Vienna International School
| Vienna International School | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | |
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Vienna Austria |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Motto | "The mission of VIS is to empower learners to achieve their potential in a nurturing and diverse environment, giving them the means and confidence to be successful and responsible in an evolving world." |
| Established | 1959 |
| Headmaster | Peter Murphy |
| Faculty | 174 |
| Grades | 1-12 (ELC 4-5, ELC 5-6) |
| Enrollment | 1400 |
| Average class size | 15-20 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 1:8.3 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Blue/White |
| Athletics conference | ISST, SCIS, DVAC |
| Mascot | Panther |
| Website | www.vis.ac.at |
The Vienna International School is a non-profit international school, located in Vienna, Austria. The school was built to accommodate the children of United Nations (UN) employees and diplomats when the UN decided to locate one of its offices in Vienna (at the Vienna International Centre), and it remains affiliated to the UN. About 50% of students are children of UN employees and receive education grants, while much of the remaining students are children mainly of embassy staff and company staff. The school has an enrollment of 1400 students, from pre-primary to twelfth grade.
The first English language medium school in Vienna was set up in August 1955 as the International Community School. Previously, it had been the 'British Army School' in Schönbrunn barracks and catered for the children of the British occupying forces in Vienna. The Austrian State Treaty signed in May 1955 resulted in the occupying forces leaving Austria, so the school transformed into the International Community School under the patronage of the British, American and Indian Missions.
It opened on 1 September 1955 in the 18th district of Vienna. By the end of the year, 150 students between the ages of 3 and 15 years attended the International Community School. Soon the building proved too small for the expanding school, which moved into the 19th district. By 1959, 300 children represented 25 different nationalities in ICS. However, most of the children were American or Canadian, so the British and Indian Embassies started a separate British style school in 1959, the English School, while the ICS changed into the American International School.
The English School moved into Grinzinger Straße 95, a premises found with the help of the British Ambassador, Sir James Bowker, the legal advisor at the Embassy Walter Rhodes, and Vienna's Deputy Lord Mayor, Hans Mandl. The English School quickly expanded and was visited by the British Minister of Education in 1961. Some of the first staff of the International Atomic Energy Agency sent their children to the English School in 1959. The school year 1961-62 saw the introduction of William Kirk as director. In May 1969, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the English School on a state visit to Vienna. In 1974, some families of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) started sending their children to the school.
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Wikipedia