International School of Bucharest
Romania
About International School of Bucharest
History
ISB was founded in 1996 in a rented building with a total of just 17 pupils to meet the needs of the English-speaking community. Within a couple of years the school had grown in both size and scope. In order to serve an increasingly mobile international community, the curriculum gradually took into consideration the practices and requirements of a number of different systems.
In 2001 the School became a CIE Exam centre in order to run IGCSE examinations. The step of becoming a CIE exam centre and the school offering an IGCSE and IBDP has further influenced the multicultural outlook of teachers and students. More than 40 countries are currently represented in the student body.
Despite separating the Primary School to a different campus in 2003, rapid expansion saw enrolment grow to around 350 students by 2004. This obliged the school to seek new premises. Many different locations were considered before Pantelimon was finally chosen as the site for the construction of the new purpose-built building.
With the generous help of our community, the project reached its final stage of planning in September 2006. The construction of the new campus has since finished, with the School operating in its new location since September 2008.
Our School has been fully accredited by CIS (Council of International Schools) since August 2012.
ISB is an IB World School authorised to offer the Diploma Programme from September 2017 onwards.
The school offers a state-of-the-art school environment, on-site sports facilities and a conference hall as well as a cafeteria. Due to the support of an exceptionally close community, the future of ISB promises to be an exciting one.
Location
I feel privileged to be a teacher and consider it a joy to work with the incredible students and staff that we have at International School of Bucharest. The students are great and tend to rate education highly so the classroom atmosphere is very positive. The staff are young, friendly and very committed. Bucharest is a rapidly developing city, an interesting mix of old and new with huge shopping centres springing up on various corners of town...
- Dana Breitenhoffer (2002 - )I enjoy working at ISB. There are many wonderful teachers in the primary section and the administration staff are supportive and helpful. The class sizes are very small and the children are well behaved. For International staff the ISB wages are enough to live comfortably on – things are relatively inexpensive in Romania compared to the UK. Flights to the UK (and the rest of Europe) are regular and are also cheap, and it is therefore quite easy to pop back to the UK for holidays…
- Sarah Ssengendo (2010-2014)The ISB staff are here for the children, first and foremost, and those in positions of authority help staff deliver the very best for the children. I look back at my time at ISB, and I see how ISB got better for the children, I see how ISB got better for the parents and I see how ISB got better for the staff. Looking to the future, I see how ISB wants to get even better again. Every child, wherever they are in the school, is learning and improving and that is what matters as a school. That every child is having the help and support, and that every teacher is having the help and support, that they need is the key factor in any successful school. The staff at ISB are there for one purpose; to improve children’s life chances. Especially in this time where people, countries and cultures try to play each other off against themselves or each other. ISB shows that unity and respect works, is possible, and is the way forward. ISB is a team. It is a family of sorts, with a mix of Primary and Secondary. But best of all ISB is a team, family and group of colleagues who want to be better for the children.
- James Peall (2012-2017)