The International School of Berne (ISBerne) first officially appeared under the name of the English Speaking School of Berne (ESSB) in October, 1961.
Harry George French, Russell Smith (both from the U.S. Embassy ) along with Don Logan (General Motors) were among the founding fathers who realized that their children could not adequately continue their education in the local schools at that time, and therefore decided, with the help of Ambassador McKinley, to set up a small English-speaking school for their families.
Rented accommodation was found on three floors of a house in Thunstrasse 97, with donated school materials from various US military bases around Europe, and teachers from the US and UK. A local Swiss teacher, Mrs Padel was appointed to be the first principal and along with 4 other members of staff, shared the teaching of some 40 students aged from 5 -14 years of age. The students came from English-speaking diplomatic and business families temporarily resident in the Berne area. In 1963, Miss Jean Smith replaced Mrs Padel as principal.
There were no recreational facilities and the students had to remain inside during breaks and lunch. P.E. took place once a week in a local gymnasium nearby. By 1965 the enrolment had reached 52 and when even the kitchen was used as a classroom, it was evident that situation had to change! Under the Chairman of the Board, Mr Malcolm Lawrence, and the current Headmaster at that time, Mr John Curtis, land was found in Gümligen.
The Parents' Association, with the help of donations and loans from the bank, raised enough funds to build a prefabricated 2-floored school to house 120 students in 102 days and were ready to open on October 12th, 1966. Unfortunately by the end of 1967 the school roll had already risen to 150 and although the new building was not yet a year old, again the Parents'Association, with Mr Jack Smith as Chairman of the Board, had to set about raising loans of 200 000 US$ to build a second block - known as the 100-day school - because of the speed with which it was constructed, again with prefabricated materials. Now there were a total of 8 classrooms including a multi-purpose room, and the school could offer tuition from KG - 9th grade.
In 1976 an urgent need for establishing a High School grades 10 - 12, taking the students up to University entrance, was overcome by renting the old Gümligen Post building and housing initially 18 students. This was soon overflowing and two 'Portacabins' were set up in the grounds until in 1982 the new High School building was opened with a gymnasium and two floors of classrooms, including essential science laboratories and a library. The cost of this building was in the region of 1 million CHF and, thanks to the efforts of Mr Siegfried Uetz, this sum was raised and upon the opening of the new building, it was dedicated to him. The students in the High School were prepared for the American SATs , Achievement Tests and A.P. examinations to allow them entrance into the U.S. colleges. At the same time the British GCE and subsequently the GCSE examinations at 'O' and 'A' level were taken. The great majority of the students leaving from the 12th grade were able to continue their studies in good Colleges and Universities, world-wide.
For many years, the school numbers crept up and up until bursting point was again reached. The Faculty now had 35 full- and part-time members teaching some 203 students.
Temporary cabins were once more brought in to help house the students from 1995 until a third floor had been built on to the top of the High School building to accommodate an enrolment of 230. These Portacabins were not very user-friendly - everyone froze in them in winter and they transformed into hot-houses in the summer!
The High School were now preparing students for the new SAT I and II Tests, the new IGCSE (an international set of examinations replacing the old GCSE's, from the University of Cambridge) and the new International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. The introduction of the widely acclaimed IB allowed our students to enter Universities in Switzerland which was the only country world-wide that had not accepted our students previously. For several years during this period, the Kindergarten had been housed in one of the schoolrooms of the Gemeinde Muri-Gumligen to help ease the overcrowding. With the arrival of new firms into the greater Berne area, the necessity of radical expansion was becoming acute. In spite of again renting the old Post building, three elementary classes had to be transferred to the Rüti school, in neighbouring Ostermundigen, and students had to be put on waiting lists. Fortunately with the help of the Gemeinde of Muri-Gümligen, the Canton of Berne and other official organs, as well as fund-raising by the school and parents, the Geelhaar building opposite the original school buildings) was purchased and transformed. Over 3 million CHF had to be raised for this to take place. In spite of loans and donations this placed the school's finances in a precarious position, relying, as is the policy, on the tuition fees to cover all expenses. Nevertheless, in May 2001, it was opened to accommodate the Elementary department of the school. This was a fitting way to mark the 40th anniversary of the school's existence!
Once again space became tight, and at the beginning of 2007 the Board of Directors applied for a building permit to enable the school to construct a temporary building. Following eight months of working with the neighbours to overcome their objections to the building a solution was found. The school had to reduce the top floor by half and also had to provide additional drop off/pick up zones for the parents, additional parking space was also found in the neighbourhood. After only eight weeks construction time the students and staff of ISBerne moved into the new Building D in April 2008. It created space for a professional working environment for the administrative team with a welcoming reception area as well as spacious classrooms for the Secondary School. The opening of Building D freed up space in other buildings enabling us to create a long awaited computer lab in the Elementary School and to provide the music department with rooms for a keyboard lab and for instruments.
The Building D is, however, only an intermediate solution for ISBerne. The school is planning for a new campus for 450 students in Siloah South to open at the latest by August 2012. This new building will also reflect the high academic standard of ISBerne taking into account the needs of the IB Programme and education in the 21st century. The public vote about the necessary rezoning will take place in spring 2009.
ISBerne's dedication to excellence in international education has been part of the school drive to develop as an International Baccalaureate World School. After establishing the IB Diploma programme in 1997, the school was authorised to offer the IB Primary Years Programme in January 2007 and the IB Middle Years Programme in April 2007. ISBerne is now one of only 130 IB schools worldwide authorised to offer all three IB programmes.
