International School of Stuttgart e.V. Community Report 2020/21

Community Report 2020/21 Artwork by L. Sudar

agility

If any word could capture the academic year, 2020/21 it would be “agility.” Fresh from a triumphant adaptation to a new world in the previous academic year, things shifted again with a prolonged shut down that left our Middle School classes outside our learning environment for essentially the entire second half of the year. Negotiation with local authorities did allow for more presence for our older students preparing for their examinations and our younger students were allowed the privilege to attend school with a wide variety of changing regulations affecting exits, timing, distance conditions, masks and testing.

But our staff displayed admirable resilience, a spirit of creativity and most of all, a dedication to keep learning together. And our students discovered new meaning to their love of school.

The Board and I were deeply grateful to all of our community as we displayed remarkable agility as we adapted to our logistical challenges even as we moved forward with our strategic aspirations and prepared for the final phase of our investment in people, program and place. Yes, it was a year of historical achievement, not the least of which was our excellent Diploma Program and Middle Years Program scores. In the end however, it was our collective spirit that kept us all learning together.

Timothy Kelley Carl Mahr School Director President, Board of Trustees

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OUR C OM M U N I T Y: O N E S C H OO L, TWO CA MPUS ES Nationality

Students

Algerian American

241

Staff

Nationality

Students

Staff

Nationality

Students

1

Estonian

3

46

Dutch

4

1

Malaysian

1

2

Mexican

2

2

New Zealander

2

2

4

Norwegian

4

1

Polish

12

52

Portuguese

1

Romanian

2

6

Russian

8 4

Argentinian

4

Filipino

1

Armenian

1

Finnish

1

Australian

6

French

12

Austrian

4

6

Gambian

Belgian

1

German

Bosnian

1

Ghanaian

147

Lebanese

Staff 1

1

Brazilian

13

1

Greek

5

British

19

31

Guatemalan

2

Saudi Arabian

Bulgarian

1

1

Hongkongese

2

Serbian

2

Canadian

15

13

Hungarian

3

1

Slovak

1

1

Indian

56

4

South African

10

1

2

Indonesian

1

Spanish

16

4

Iraqi

2

Swedish

19

Irish

5

6

Swiss

Italian

9

2

Turkish

12

Japanese

120

5

Ukrainian

1

2

Chilean Chinese

11

Colombian

1

Croatian

5

Czech

1

Danish

4

Dominican

1

Korean

19

Ecuadorian

2

Latvian

1

4

1

1 2

IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 3

COVID-19 did not manage to stop ISS from its tradition of reflecting on changes to prepare itself for the future. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the pandemic experience was realizing that our educational plans are superbly aligned to what we need to do for our students and their future. Our emphasis on Information Technology (IT) and student autonomy helped our ability to adapt as well as achieving a new level of “transparency” that bodes well for our future of personalized learning.

Examples of our excellent best practice include: •

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ISS re-invented school nearly on a weekly basis, our staff managed a variety of challenges supporting

new beginnings • •

school in different clusters, online and off site and in hybrids of all the above.

Unlike most other schools, we did not lose learning... we found it.

Successful IB Diploma Programme grading predictions for the alternative path process.

Successful Middle Years Program (MYP) and Diploma Program (DP)

• •

testing implementation.

Maintaining a sense of normal through a superlative online MUNISS conference Maintaining our MathQuest experience, innovative sports videos, the MYP Dance Unit, the Jesus Christ Superstar movie and dedicated parental volunteer organizations.

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Our second exemplary Digitale Schule application providing an extraordinary view into our systemic support of learning in general.

As if this was not enough, our school maintained a firm grasp on our strategic goals and dreams.

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Continuing our excellent work on the

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building project, controlling costs and carefully planning our final phase of The Future of Education. Now. Finalizing our interim plans, building new teams, and expanding our S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) programming whole school.

Instituting revised appraisal processes that emphasize personalized learning.

Completing necessary curricular initiatives including a newly aligned mathematics program and meeting our necessary Schulpflichtig requirements.

Continuing to improve and expand our marketing tools and outreach.

Continuing our relationship with the Erasmus program.

The frequent recognition of our accomplishments during this pandemic time from staff, students and parents in surveys and anecdotal commentary has gone a long way to maintaining morale.

But we must build on our past experience to continue developing along the lines of our Future of Education. Now. priorities.

To quote our former Board of Trustees President, Stefan Zerbe, “as we revamp our interim buildings, lets nurture our desire to change!”

“let’s nurture our desire to change”

Artist-in-Residence Project Early Years students on the Sindelfingen Campus worked with Petra Wenski-Hänisch, an artist with the Artistin-Residence Project. The organization Kids@Kita has worked with our campus for the best part of 10 years and children from Kindergarten all over Sindelfingen exhibited the work they have done with local artists, in the Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen.

German Kultusministerkonferenz The German Kultusministerkonferenz confirmed that IB graduates who study DP mathematics Standard Level (SL) will be able to access all subject areas of higher education in Germany. ISS decided to take advantage of this opportunity and signed an agreement with the IB which commits us to teaching vectors to all Diploma Program Mathematics SL students.

Magical The School was grateful to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the Parent Teacher Group (PTG) for their initiatives, in particular the Digital Advent Calendar which has simply been magical…tonic for the soul and the Christmas Elves in Sindelfingen who left their tangible gifts of magic throughout the campus!

Outdoor Learning Degerloch Campus Kindergarten students took building a greenhouse to a whole new level! As part of their Plant Unit of Inquiry (UoI) and Outdoor Learning Program, students had a target of recycling 1,500 plastic bottle to build a greenhouse on the Early Years playground.

IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 5

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valuable feedback

For the past two years, our school has worked with parental organizations such as the Parent Advisory Councils to refine, revisit and align our opinion surveys with the standards of our accrediting and authorizing authorities. In the spring of 2021, these efforts were realized with the implementation of new re-enrollment survey, as well as staff and student surveys.

The feedback was carefully tabulated and all comments were read, though only comments with more than three repetitions were recognized in the strategic study. As a final note, surveys are only to be utilized for strategic feedback if more than 40% of the constituency has participated.

The 2021 overall survey findings include: •

•

The quality of teaching and curriculum stood out very positively in the parental comments, and students valued the variety of approaches to learning.

Significant improvements in our math programs were recorded in the comments by parents although there is still a desire to continue focus on this area. There is also a desire for more development in our science programs, both of these focal points are fully aligned to our strategic priorities focusing on STEAM.

Upon further analysis of these findings, and a closer look at the few ratings that fell between the 70-80% agreement mark (there were none less than that), the key areas that surfaced were a desire for more school/life balance, as well as doing more to support the growth of all learners through effective and consistent feedback and inclusion practices. From student and parental comments, there is also some desire for even more German language instruction and EAL support, though we already have significant programming in place.

One area of focus that merits attention is our assessment practices as there is a mismatch between what teachers and parents think is happening, and how students perceive it. Some students surveyed do not believe that they get the necessary feedback needed to understand their own progress, and of the comments provided by students about changes they would like to see, this area had the most mentions. It was also interesting to note that even though there has been significant investment in teacher training, a quarter of our staff would like to see more professional development at ISS. When it comes to learner engagement and autonomy, the fact that the vast majority of students value learning puts us in a very comfortable position as a school.

In addition, the results and comments from all the surveys as well as from the internal review, is that we enjoy a culture built on trust, autonomy, and choice.

Nearly 90% of the students believe their teachers are also learners, and the same percentage of teachers claim that they are encouraged to be creative in their professional development, verifying the belief that we actively promote risk-taking and experimentation with innovation.

Collaboration is also clearly encouraged, as agreed by both students and teachers.

When it comes to professional growth and development however, teachers and leaders both see challenges, with less than a quarter of the teachers not feeling supported in their own growth but do feel supported as an individual.

Whether COVID was a factor or not of our new Inclusion Policy and there is unclear but there is a feeling of being is a strong feeling of being respected stressed in school for both students at ISS: 99% of our teachers believe in and staff, which may be correlated with the importance of the perspectives of the fact that only 53% of students say students and parents and 98% of our that they get involved in extracurricular students care about how others are activities. 30-40% of students do not feel feeling and believe that they are respectful that they are able to achieve a school/ of each other’s needs. life balance, and for teachers this is at School leaders 45%. Several parents recognize that we also commented on have communication a desire for more structures in place focus on learning but realize that we opportunities need to make our beyond the goals and desired curriculum. All impacts more visible. constituents, Nonetheless, 92% however do feel of parents say that that our learning communication is ecosystem supports transparent and self-directed learning honest and that they and the opportunity support our strategic for developing goals. There were personal interests some comments, and passions. however, that (Student Survey: relate to improving What students like) When it comes to the consistency our strategic goal and timeliness of of inclusion, ISS has clearly established an communications. environment in which 87% of students and 97% of teachers feel safe at school.

Other comments from all sections verify However, ISS believes that we can do that our teachers and leaders are caring better in creating a fully inclusive learning and approachable, something that we environment. It helps that we are a caring can be proud of and which puts us in a community, as evidenced in that generally good position to continue developing 80% and over of all members believe our research and reflection practices that their opinion is valued. There is also a in a manner will support our goal to desire on the part of teachers and school personalize and keep learning at the core leaders to improve the implementation of all we do.

“The teachers are qualified and kind and we learn things that we will need the rest of our lives”

IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 7

the future of education.

For the past two years, ISS has been implementing our strategic plan goals prior to the final stage of building our new Upper School facility in Degerloch. While the next stages of planning will include renovations of our other divisions, 2019/20 represented the conclusion of our People and Program investment phase, focusing our resources on our key strategic priorities: Learning by Design • Externally recognized Engineering or STEAM program certifications • New Erasmus programs including Eco Schools 8

(educational exchange initiatives sponsored by the EU)

Understanding that Learning Matters • New Language policy and practices • A new Upper School timetable • An ISS Computer Science curriculum that leads to DP CS course • Aligning our academic expectations with a new definition of learning • Expanded Grade 10 Subject electives and German and EAL teaching in our Lower Schools on both

• • • •

Campuses Grade 9 and 10 Coding Programming Course Expanded Mathematics instruction time Expanded Robotics and Design in our Lower Schools Sindelfingen Campus Primary Years Program implementation

Supporting our staffing capacities to cultivate, retain and attract best practice teachers • Cost of Living increase investment for all staff • Renegotiation of Administrative and Learning Assistant Pay Scales

• • • • •

Completion of the communication of learning portfolio review including investment in new tools and processes for learning transparency Implementing the Mentoring Program Redefining the vision for our Sindelfingen Campus and hiring a new leader Professional development for improved differentiation and assessment practices Professional development for improved expertise in MYP and DP practice

Many of our other final goals will be implemented with the construction of our new building including nutritional and health and wellness aspirations, expanded science and arts facilities, collaborative learning spaces, an IB Diploma cluster, and an environmentally sustainable learning environment.

what does learning look like at ISS In 2019/20, as a response to our accreditation visit, the school pursued what it really meant to have a vision that is to place learning at the core of all that we do. We wanted to align this important statement with our strategic aspirations so we worked with various constituencies to define learning as being a transformative process for each learner that combines their unique predispositions and experiences with the development of disciplinary and transdisciplinary skills, knowledge and understanding, in order to nurture and develop character and intellect.

We believe that learning happens when learners: • understand what they are learning and why they are learning it, • demonstrate agency in guiding their own learning

• • • •

journey, reflect on their strengths and monitor their own success, take informed risks that allow them to experiment and learn from mistakes, make connections between each other and the world around them, and embrace multiple perspectives with humility and harness the power of our diverse community.

These learning actions engage us in lifelong learning and positive participation in a changing world. And we believe that by working as a community to understand and pursue the achievement of this definition will provide our learners with a more personal understanding of why and how learning matters.

. now.

IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 9

https://vimeo.com/605662076/24baa0b411

通信 10

communication After the overwhelming success of the new video marketing our Sindelfingen Campus, ISS once again worked with The Film Guys to create a campus video for our Degerloch Campus. The task for Degerloch was to produce a video focussing on our students rather than on the facilities, given that we were about to embark on a building project. The Film Guys achieved this by working very closely with students and interested

members of staff to come up with a video production which, in its making, incorporated our students as much as possible and took student ideas on board. The result is an energetic and entertaining video about student spirit, culture and learning at ISS that has been short-listed in the Strategic category of the International School Awards 2022.

ISS Website The School launched Phase 1 of the new website after an unavoidable delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We wanted to allow users to authentically experience what we value and promote at ISS . The site was built around our vision to place learning at the core of all that we do and how we inspire, challenge and support our community.

Admissions Portal In February 2021, the Admissions Team was very happy to introduce the new look, user-friendly Admissions Portal just in time for enrollment 2021-2022. The new portal allows for an improved parent/candidate experience and gives the ultimate first impression of the school.

With clear applicant workflow presentation, the portal allows for additional information by way of colourful content screens and links to virtual tours of the school campuses.

“Wir schätzen an der Ausbildung der ISS einfach alles. Für das Kind es perfekt aber auch für die Eltern.

Vor allem die transparenten Infos per Email, die Kommunikation mit den Lehrern und das individuelle Fördern der Kindern finden wir super.” Parent Survey 2021 I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 11

誇り pride

The graduating class of 2021 persevered through the pandemic and produced results that the entire community can be very proud of. Despite very difficult circumstances during their learning and throughout the exam period they all demonstrated that they are ready for the next stage of their academic pursuits. Many thanks to the parents, teachers, staff, booster club and friends who supported our graduates on their way to receiving some very impressive results. Whether you look at the overall points achieved, the comparison with the world average, two students with perfect scores, or the number of bilingual diplomas awarded, everywhere you look ISS students shone.

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The average points total of those who passed was 37 points, compared with 33.5 in 2020, 35 in 2019, 32 in 2018, 35 in 2017, 34 in 2016. The world average this year was World Average Points: 33.02.

The average diploma grade at ISS was 5.64 compared to the world average of 5.19.

43% of our cohort gained 40 points or above with two students achieving 45 points out of a possible 45 being the highest.

The average number of core points in 2021 was 2.2 compared with 1.7 in 2021, 2 points in 2019, 1.5 in 2018, 2 in 2017 and 1.7 in 2016.

Over half of the Diplomas awarded were bilingual (53.4%)

G

rade 12 students produced CAS showcases as a final reflection of their CAS programs over the past 18 months and shared their experiences with the ISS Community as a digital ‘gallery walk’. Grade 10 students were able to learn more about CAS and gather ideas for their own CAS programs which started in August. They describe the showcases as ‘happy, creative, personal, entertaining, inspiring’.

In addition to this, ISS has had an impressive college list in recent years, with graduates going on to study at leading colleges and universities world-wide as well as directly into a career or sport-based programme, including: Harvard University, UK Armed Forces, US Military School, Princeton University, LSE, The University of Cambridge, UCL, German Ausbildung, University of Virginia, University of Warwick, EPFL, Stuttgart University, Kings College London, University of Oxford, Technical University of Munich, Professional Football, University of Science and Technology and Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT).

future leaders

The class of 2021 has gone on to study a wide range of subjects including:

PPLE (Politics, Philosophy, Law Economics), Computer Science, Classics, Biochemistry, International Management, Economics, Business & Management, Physiotherapy, Mechanical Engineering, Fine Art, Law with Business, Art History, Media, Economics & Finance, Design, International Relations, Law, Marketing, International Business Administration, Pre-Medicine, Business

Psychology, Film & Media, Biosciences, Computer Science & Maths, Industrial Engineering, English Literature & Creative Writing, Medicine, Natural Sciences.

Students matriculated at the following universities in the Autumn of 2021: University of Amsterdam, University of Cambridge, University of Durham, LUISS Rome, University of Glasgow, Kings College London, KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, University of Southampton, Loughborough University, University of Aberdeen, University of Leiden, Manchester University, Munich Business School, EBS Wiesbaden, University of Bristol, St. Louis University Madrid, University of Auckland, Aston University Birmingham, University of Toronto, NABA Milan, Purdue University, Ècole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU Eindhoven), University of La Verne, Techniche Universität München (TUM), Thomas Jefferson University, University of Minnesota.

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SS was one of 16 AGIS (Association of German International Schools) schools who collaborated on our first virtual college fair. 113 institutions from around the world from Australia to North America met with over 1500 students and parents including almost 60 from ISS. Prior to the fair, a series of live panel sessions were run covering a range of topics. These sessions were recorded and shared with the ISS community.

I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 13

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Average points obtained by students who received the certificate was 42 points.

Average grade obtained by students who received the certificate was 5.16 (out of 7).

68% of students who received the certificate scored 40 or more points (scored on average grade 5 or higher) - German Gymnasium entrance requirement.

30% of those who received the certificate also gained bilingual certification.

The highest number of points obtained was 55 out of a possible 56 points.

top performance Reports indicate that our students continue to perform better than their world-wide counterparts, in both core components of the MYP, Personal Project (PP), a precursor to the Extended Essay in the Diploma Programme and the Interdisciplinary Learning on-screen assessment. Even with the many disruptions caused by Covid our students still achieved fantastic results in the eAssessments.

Students in our Grade 10 completed the ISS version of eAssessments in the Middle Years Programme (MYP). Taking part in these examinations takes a lot of effort, collaboration, time, confidence, optimism, and energy and these were fully on display.

Students completed the MYP on screen eAssessments in Mathematics, Language and Literature- English/German, Individuals and Societies and Integrated Sciences The eAssessments are on-screen exams assessing students on skills and conceptual understanding rather than just content mastery. Through the use of technology and the focus on deeper levels of understanding, the examination process was an engaging, positive experience for all of our students. With eAssessment, schools have the opportunity to consider students’ learning against clear standards of achievement for this age group. In turn, this will also inform our teaching practice at ISS. Teachers are already reviewing these results and preparing for our next set of eAssessments in May. This year Language Acquisition will move from being a portfolio subject to being an online exam, apart from an oral component.

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“I was at ISS for 6 years from grade 7 through to grade 12. Especially helpful for my studies was the fact that my teachers were very dedicated and helpful.

I think being critical in general is one of the most valuable skill I took with me from ISS.” M. Kemmer, Class of 2018

Read our Alumni stories by scanning the code or by going to https://bit.ly/alumnistories-ISS

alumni

In the Summer of 2021 one member of the Class of 2013 commented that attending an international school had been a very special experience and meant one had friends scattered all over the world. Wherever they were studying at other schools or colleges or entering the world of work many of our alums found themselves locked down on campus or working from home for long periods in the 2020/21 school year.

As with teaching and learning, the pandemic meant that much of our alumni outreach had to be through our online platforms in 2020/21 but we have been pleased to see our LinkedIn alumni group continue to grow. Despite the pandemic there have been weddings, there have been moves - amongst others from Seattle to New York, from Singapore to Munich and from New York to Stuttgart. There have also been alumni returning to Stuttgart to do their distance learning from here rather than from a locked-down, shared flat elsewhere. While it has been great to see them around Stuttgart, we are sad for them missing out on all the experiences of living away from home for the first time.

A growing and particularly appreciated development in 2020/21 is how alums have engaged with our older students. Whether through live or online sharing of their chosen field of study and work or through sharing their tips and experience of coping with that challenging final IB year in the “Alumni Stories” initiated by the ISS PAC and supported by the Alumni Office, our alums have given much appreciated support and advice to our Diploma Programme students.

Sadly, the pandemic also put a brake on the investigation of online platforms for alumni as companies that we had been in touch with had to respond to their country lockdown rules. However, we are committed to pursuing this with the aim of offering alumni the chance to: • Grade 10 students were introduced to three alums during the Pre-IB Dipoma Week. Special thanks go to Minori Iwahashi and Robert Meyer from Class of 2016 and Noah Baumann from Class of 2017 who shared their reflections on the opportunities, challenges and their strategies for success in Grades 11 and 12

• •

support current students at career events by handing down knowledge and experience, find valuable academic and professional connections through a mentoring programme and network outside the ISS community.

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service as action

In September 2020, the annual MYP Service as Action fair took place, to help students understand and get to know the various possibilities there are of giving service within school community: for the school community, for the local community and the wider world. The fair was done very differently than previous years due to the COVID-19 restrictions with sign-ups completed online. Although there were many restrictions in place throughout the year, there were still excellent initiatives that took place.

Local community opportunities that were able to continue in person were making ‘Worry-Eaters’ for a local hospice, becoming involved in the Zimbabwe School’s project, KIVA and the “Christmas in a Shoebox” project. There were also a variety of International Awareness Days that were further explored, such as Peace One Day, Human Rights, World Toilet Day, amongst others. We also hosted Liz Marley from Poppies Care Farm who spoke to our Middle Years students regarding the importance 16

of bees in our world. With this initiative in mind, all Grade 6-7 students built insect hotels at the end of the school year when we returned to school to help promote biodiversity. Our Grade 8-10 students worked on making posters to hopefully be posted on our new and temporary containers. This project is continuing into this school year with Mr. Kelley.

Despite the many restrictions in place, we were very pleased to see many students who continued to find ways to help others. Students partook in a range of activities, such as writing for the school magazine to raise awareness about various issues, volunteering with dog shelters, writing letters to people in nursing homes during the pandemic, helping assist their grandparents with health initiatives, tutoring others online, amongst many more. Overall, a job well done by our Middle Years students!

muniss

MUNISS and the MUN program evolved into a very successful online format this year due to the Covid restrictions still in place.

Annie Yan and Leah Hilliges, our Secretary Generals, along with their team ran a very successful MUN Day at ISS in preparation for the conference. The day was held in clusters with the teachers leading interactive activities and debates that the MUNISS executive team had meticulously planned. The students had a wonderful time and were then ready for the first ever online MUNISS conference.

The MUNISS Secretariat planned a conference with over 200 participants around the theme of Responsibility of governments and institutions in protecting the vulnerable. The

conference featured keynote speakers discussing the challenges governments face in these unprecedented times, musical performances and lively debates around the many committee topics. Students from all over Europe and the world attended the conference and were very excited to have an opportunity to continue their MUN programs in collaboration with MUNISS. The student leadership did an outstanding job implementing the use of new technology in the forums, as well as hosting interactive social events to simulate the face-to-face experience we all missed out on in 2020! Thank you to the MUNISS Executive Team for a highly successful year.

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performing arts O

riginally intended to be a musical on stage, with the changing regulations, ISS decided to produce a full length film of the classic musical Jesus Christ Superstar…with a unique twist. The role of the Messiah was transformed into a social media influencer called JC who visits Stuttgart. Intertwining the original story of the musical with this modern adaptation wasn’t the only challenge with this production. Changing regulations required frequent outdoor shooting that became weather dependent. Cast and Crew were tested throughout the entire production learning

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how to act for a camera rather than onstage. But through the leadership and extraordinary talent of Miyako Zuckeiewicz (JC) and Ella Assamarou (Judas) the production opened on schedule with an official stream of the full production. The music was produced and recorded by Mr. Artusian, Ms. Betts and Mrs. Reed.

Dance sequences were choreographed by Mr. Turner, and the movie was produced, edited and directed by our School Director Mr. Kelley. The movie was streamed over 600 times and was well received by all.

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ast year brought us many challenges and best practices in flexibility. However, in the arts, the show will always go on. The Arts pivot. That is the catch word for this year – pivot, problem solve, and embrace the creative process.

Above all, ensure social emotional well-being for all our students.

The arts live in the ever-changing process. That inherent need to create. To build, do, make something new. When online, get the students outside. Guide them to find arts in nature –to embrace sounds, colors, shapes, rhythms. It was a chance to see and apply the teaching of arts in a new and connected way.

Did technology play a role? Yes. But not center stage.

Art in Nature, Drive by Tuning, Mime and Noh. We started the year, together with instruments, props, scripts, sketch books and more art supplies in hand. We were in person for that first semester from August to December.

Grades 3 and 4 learning strings, Grade 5 Camp Kindness on embracing equity, inclusion and diversity through a play, music and dance; Grade 6 World Music Cup Songs with Movement; Grade 7 Ensembles across cultures; Grade 8 Music, Mime and Movement and Grade 9/10 the Sculpture Gallery. This was only in performing arts. In visual arts and design students developed self-portraits; pottery, film, sculptures, constructed cities, created hybrids fusing arts with technology and much more. The 2nd semester brought us more lock down, new rules, new opportunities. Such as a bilingual Japanese Noh play; drive by tunings and instruments into every hand of Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Artus - JOiN Students who had started with Jungen Oper im Nord, were able to continue with Artus – rehearsing in parking lots to be able to sing – then into specialized rehearsal studios, until the final opera product became a movie.

Our students, ISS Sindelfingen made up over a third of all committed singers. The film was released in June, 2021.

Innovation & Celebration With no singing it was an opportunity to bring a strings program to life. New compositions from early years to narrate their own stories explore world percussion ensembles. Grade 7 discovered Noh Theatre and went into a bilingual Japanese production, Grade 8 into a rock band. We missed the audiences, but we shared the learning. Livestreams, newsletters, SeeSaw. And then…

Ms. Kupke. How to celebrate Ms. Kupke in a way that was reflective of her personality – it had to be BIG!

Bringing the year to close, outside on a warm and beautiful day, we were able to bring the school together.

In Abstand – as every class was together to perform in music and drama in the Sindelfingen playground. Students were able to present to and for their colleagues, for their teachers, for their parents (online) and for Sarah.

The images captured in this letter are truly only a small sampling of what went on in the arts at ISS Sindelfingen from August 2020 to June 2021. It is every child’s inherent right to create. And create they did.

I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 19

sports Due to the COVID-19 situation, sporting activities were unfortunately put on hold and after school activities moved online. The school’s very first online store was launched to sell merchandise offered by the Booster Club and offers the community the option to purchase all year round.

The Athletics Department was very creative with keeping the community involved and supporting their health and fitness journeys by creating the first ISS Virtual Kiva Charity Run. This event saw 110 participants running a total of 4.779,62 kilometers in only 12 days. Our top runner in each division category are the proud owners 20

of ISS merchandise sponsored by the ISS Booster Club, and the overall winner who ran a staggering 224.10km, received a trophy for their efforts.

We are happy and proud that so many people took part and exercised for charity and congratulations goes to all the participants.

Our second ISS Charity Sports Challenge was another success with community members having the option to register for not only running but also biking and walking challenges. We also competed as a team against three other international schools in Germany; Leipzig International School (LIS), Bonn International School (BIS) and International School Frankfurt (ISF) with Leipzig International School winning the competition (and trophy) with a total of 9842 kilometers.

We would also like to thank to the ISS Booster Club for supporting our Grade 12 students as they start writing their ISS exams. The Booster Club helps support the sports programs by promoting both team and school spirit which they have certainly done so with our Grade 12 students. This club has generously provided snacks to help gives students a 'boost' between exams and we all wish our Grade 12 students the best as they undertake these cumulative assessments.

summer@iss international school of stuttgart e.V.

Summer@iss 2021 welcomed 694 children over the course of 8 weeks leading to a record high weekly average of 86 children. With a 50% retention rate of staff from 2020 and high camper retention from last year, summer@iss continued to be a staple of many families’ summers scheduling. According to a digitally distributed exit survey, 100% of responding parents rated the overall experience as 5 out of 5 stars.

With a continued focus on academics not just limited to language acquisition, parents reported an overall high level of satisfaction with programming, both recreational and academic giving the curriculum 4.79 stars out of 5.

Camp was able to offer a modified week in collaboration with SV Hoffeld while preparations for the building project began and continued this partnership over the course of the summer for the much-anticipated weekly water games. summer@iss continued to forge meaningful community partnerships and the Leadership Institute, now in its second year as the volunteer instructor in training programming for 14–17-year-old participants included 9 engaged and reliable students. Leaders in Training (LIT) become such an integrated group that some exit survey respondents mentioned their child’s LIT positively by name in their feedback.

“It is a perfect balance of academic and fun, (my child) loved every second!” summer@iss 2021 Parent Exit Survey

I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 21

Our mission is to inspire, challenge and actively support our students and each other to become positive participants in a changing world.

We believe in the importance of: Innovation: Emphasizing creative problem-solving and confident adaptation to change.

Respect: Fostering empathy and integrity to nurture a caring responsibility within a diverse cultural community.

International School of Stuttgart e.V. Sigmaringer Str. 257 70597 Stuttgart Germany Tel +49 (0)711 76 96 000 iss@issev.de www.issev.de

www.facebook.com/issevde @SchoolStuttgart www.linkedin.com/company/international-school-of-stuttgart/

Engagement: Challenging and inspiring understanding through active curiosity and individual involvement in learning.

Relevance: Accessing and discerning real life connections between intellectual experience and the changing world.

The ISS experience inspires its learners to develop a sense of pride and commitment to making a difference. A transparent and reflective partnership between students, teachers and family is fundamental to our mission.