Frankfurt International (FIS)

www.fis.edu

[Entrance to the FIS Primary School]

I had the pleasure of visiting with the principal of the Elementary School of FIS, Peter Baker, formerly principal at Enner Glynn School, Nelson. FIS is run by a not-for-profit board, the significance of this is that any surplus funds are reinvested in the school and do not go to shareholders. The school is registered to teach the International Baccalaureate Primary Years and Diploma Programmes. It is also accredited by the European Council of International Schools and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges - no wonder it is the international school of choice in Frankfurt; there are several other international schools.

A familiar routine for me has been to check in with the school’s security staff at their office, swap a form of identification for a visitor badge and accompany an officer to the elementary school office. The reverse occurs at the end of the day. I noted that parents advancing beyond the front gate are also required to wear a visitor badge.

FIS is three schools on one campus; the primary campus caters for 250 children from 3 – 6 years of age. Peter is principal of the Elementary school, 460 children who make up grades 2-5. The Head of School is Mark Ulfers; the whole school has about 1800 children. The school is made up of children from many different cultures (USA, Germany, Korea, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, India, Canada and Italy) and its’ staff is also drawn from an international pool of teachers - several of whom are New Zealand and Australians.

FIS has a second campus located in Wiesbaden (300 children) also located outside of Frankfurt.

[Astroturf type surface for the field - very impressive]

Leadership at FIS believes ‘a well rounded, dynamic and challenging education is the best tool to give young people so that they may meet the diverse and ever-changing challenges of the 21^st century with confidence’. A healthy mix of general classroom teachers and specialists in sport, art, music and ICT contribute to fulfilling that belief. The school is very well resourced inside and out with all weather surfaces for field sports; two gymnasiums, specialist drama room, several ICT suites and at least one auditorium. Incidentally class sizes are limited to 20! I know that will interest many people I know.

It costs a lot of money to have a child attend FIS and while the companies of many people contribute in full or part to the costs, there are some people who meet the costs from their own resources.

The day I visited 2 elementary classes were on trips to other parts of Germany and Peter was preparing to visit a class at one venue later in the week. He was also handling introductory/orientation sessions for new board members. All this after recently completing recruitment fairs in the UK and USA.

At the end of the day I watched as a fleet of 8 large buses and many smaller buses transported children home to all parts of the larger Frankfurt area. The school operates ‘the largest private bus service in Germany, making more than 225 stops in the greater Frankfurt/Rhein-Main area’.

[Secondary section of the school in the background]