Our daughter has been an ISS student for two years now, with one year in the PYP (Primary Years Program, both at their Sindelfingen and Degerloch campus) and the other in the MYP (Middle Years Program, Degerloch campus). For a U.S. government contractor, ISS seemed like a slightly more affordable alternative to DoDDS (Department of Defense Dependence Schools), which costs $24,396 per year vice $17K to $18K per year at ISS; and, unlike at DoDDS, we have never had to worry about our daughter being "bumped out of school" due to over capacity (i.e., space at DoDDS is only guaranteed for children of military and government civilians). The IB (International Baccalaureate) program also sounded more admirable in its goal to mold and produce caring, compassionate, global-minded citizens, who are adept at self-motivation and self-education - a goal that greatly resonated with my husband and I. Unfortunately, this discovery method only works when a student is already very self-driven and/or has access to very thoughtful, innovative teachers; ISS is bereft of the latter, which is why ISS students easily struggle in math and language learning. For instance, rather than develop individualized learning plans to help students tackle their math and/or language challenges, ISS teachers will instead steer parents towards private tutoring services. Pros of ISS: Although ISS's community of active parents is small, it is still impressively effective and most likely the reason why ISS continues to remain operational; it has some very caring and kind teachers and staff members, who truly care about the kids; it offers students a unique opportunity to become bilingual and/or trilingual, both through class learning and through immersion trips into neighboring towns; it provides numerous after school programs and a number of overnight school trips to "facilitate holistic learning"; and ISS works hard to build a community of compassionate, tolerant, and open-minded citizens by teaching their students how to appreciate, communicate, and interact with people from different cultures and from other countries. Cons of ISS: ISS lacks visionaries; it is more reactive than proactive in its strategic and financial planning; many of its managing staff and teachers fail to understand the importance of providing students with strong foundational preparation, especially when it comes to math; lack of a focus on laying foundational knowledge has resulted in many kids falling behind and/or repeating a grade level, once they return to their home countries (most prevalent concern among non-German parents); the principals and teachers are slow at best to respond to your inquiries, unless forced to do so; and there is an absence of accountability for students, which, to be fair, is first and foremost up to the parents to address - but that doesn't mean that ISS should continue to set expectations without consequences, as well. My husband and I still believe the IB program has great potential and merit, but we do not feel that ISS (Degerloch or Sindelfingen) has done all that it can to effectively execute it.

Out of the 5 international schools i’ve attended growing up, this one was by far the worst experience i’ve ever had. I did my IBDP years at ISS and the teachers are generally unwilling to help the students or even teach the material properly. In the majority of my classes, half of the students had repeatedly told the teachers they didn’t understand certain units and they were met with indifference as most of the teachers were only focused on getting through the material quickly. Even with multiple complaints filed against these teachers, the school remained unable to do anything about it. Furthermore, my personal opinion is that their ‘record breaking’ IBDP scores in 2021 where over 20 students achieved a grade above 40, was not thanks to the school but rather to the students hard work and independent learning. Being one of those students myself, I had to relearn the material in my own time in order to pass any of the exams (I can also confirm this for at least 10 of the other students). The school’s facilities are an overall 0/10. They have no cafeteria, parking availability (parents have to queue down the road to drop off their children), IB common room (this was closed off during Covid), classrooms (they built containers outside to make extra classrooms), football field (or any outdoor sports facility), etc. This is an observation I made before they tore down the school to rebuild it, however, they also made a show about rebuilding the school only for it to supposedly be done in 2025, so if you plan on sending your child to secondary school, be prepared to not even have a school. I personally find it absurd that they could raise tuition fees after that. They are also very limited in subjects for IBDP. For example, they did not offer DT despite having a DT classroom, film studies or psychology (my friend had to take psychology outside of school). They are also not proactive when it comes to aiding their students to complete the IBDP. For example, the ISS diploma consists of the exact same subjects and taught courses/exams as the IB diploma, yet they prohibit certain students from sending their results to the IB board (happened to a friend who couldn’t get into university with the ISS diploma alone as it’s essentially unrecognised and useless, despite being eligible for the IB certificates which the school did not even offer them). Their first course of action is also always to fail the students before offering other solutions that would require a bit more effort and time. This is of course just my personal experience and opinion though. The only reason this review even has a star is because of their science department. The facilities and equipment available in the labs is impressive, and their teachers even better.

Quite a few burnt-out teachers (the majority), With the rest being made up of teachers unable or unprepared to control, handle and teach a class, as well as quite a few teachers who either turn a blind eye to the culture of bullying within the school, or actively participate in it (sadly quite a few). Aside from that, you have some teachers who have major anger problems and spend large portions of the class screaming at students. Not all teachers at the school are bad, there is the occasional diamond in the rough who is a good teacher, but those are rare. The building itself either old, severely damaged, or old and damaged. Infrastructure: 3/10, 2/10 if you keep in mind how much tuition is Teacher Quality: 1/10, with the occasional diamond in the rough Culture: 1/10, very toxic culture, bullying is pervasive and rampant and the mental health of the students is not remotely a priority To be fair to the school, some of my knowledge is a bit outdated, so it is possible things have changed (doubt it), but take my words with a grain of salt anyway

I am a student here at ISS and personally I think it is a great school. The teachers are very nice and they are alright at teaching. The main reason that It is not a 5 is that the school is not very good at informing the parents of what is happening. The students always have to inform the parents and sometimes do not know whats happening themselves. Overall good school with nice teachers

Hi. im not from Geemany, but i would like to know details about this school specifically because im planing to move to Stuttgart and my son almost 7 years old doesnt speak German, only English. so do you have non german speaking kids there, and is the school public free or have to pay? Thank you in advance

I had a wonderful time at ISS. Teachers and staff invest a lot of time and effort to not only educate, but also to develop personalities amongst the student body and prepare them for university & work. The facilities are great and improving constantly. I really felt at home here.

My daughter takes part in the ISS summer school program. Actually, there is a large gap between the activities planned and the activies really done. Almost no attempt of teaching the children in English. My expectations aren't fulfilled at all. We'll never come back to the ISS.

Schooling is great in every aspect right from academics to co curricular activities. Can learn different cultures, ethnics there because students are from all over the world. Faculties are really friendly. Every necessary and well equipped facilitates are present.

This is the worst school ever. Everybody hates everybody and the teachers all hate their jobs so they aren't good at teaching. They charge for almost everything and don't even spend it on anything good. Everyone is always judging you, and you can never be yourself

I toured this for my grade 1 child. He (tour guide) couldn't offer me any examples of school work. He said I could only view it if I was a parent. Was he afraid I would steal it?? I just wasn't impressed.

Bad school in general, teachers are rude and bullies they pick on students for no reasons most of the times. Don't send your kids here.

My children are thriving at ISS. Teachers are caring professionals who put learning and children at the core of all they do.

We have a 7th and 10th grader that attend. Can't say enough good things about this school. Very pleased!

Terrific teachers and good facilities but most of all great families who send their kids there …

Really nice buildings and a great teaching faculty.

Ok!