International School of Schaffhausen

Testimonials

International school

“I hope the entire ISSH team is well. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks and praise to the whole ISSH for the super organized and executed online teaching in the current Corona time – it is phenomenal and works out perfectly. I have been in the HomeOffice for 2 weeks and we have organized ourselves wonderfully at home”.

“I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of you for all your support, professionalism and care to guide and welcome our kids and our family into the ISSH community. The kids enjoyed this 2.5 years in Switzerland so much and ISSH was a big part of their happiness and growth. We will be forever thankful and grateful for what we found in this beautiful community. Well done for such a good job you are doing within ISSH!”

“ISSH provides a very welcoming environment. The kids adapted to school very easy, thanks to the friendly school, teachers and students. ISSH is like a big family. Everybody knows everybody. We and our kids are very happy with ISSH!”

Early learning centre

Primary School

“I like the small class sizes, the warm and friendly school atmosphere, “hands on” learning, weekly bulletins and the PA organized events.”

“I would just like to express my and my husband's deep appreciation for the amazingly peaceful and organised way the school you direct is functioning during this challenging beginning of a quite unusual year. While other schools throughout the world are - rightfully - confused and disoriented, you are a fantastic example of great performance under stressful conditions. Since we believe that every organisation functions based and guided by the principles its founders and directors set, we feel it is our duty to say the least you deserve 'Thank you!”

Wir möchten uns aus ganzem Herzen für die Betreuung unserer Tochter Neyla bedanken.Mit dem Wechsel auf die ISSH ist sie förmlich aufgeblüht. Sie geht jeden Tag gerne zur Schule und erzählt begeistert vom Unterricht. Mrs. Mihaela und die weiteren Lehrpersonen machen einen sensationellen Job.

Secondary School

“Each classroom our girls have been part of has an emphasis on critical thinking, a focus on learning about the world and environment around us, and individual attention to ensure the girls are challenged.”

“Dear ISSH Team Yes, in times of Corona the usual life is turned upside down. The tension, from trivializing the virus to panic-mongering at the highest level, is very great. Since a healthy attitude, the right measure of: “How do I deal with it, how do I master my limited everyday life”, is a challenge. You, dear ISSH team, have taken up this new, demanding, difficult and also exhausting challenge. We parents are kept up to date by timely information and messages via mail and Managebac…and not only in the times of Corona. They have prepared their students very well for homeschooling and familiarized them with the technology involved. With their homeschooling programme, they are responsible for teaching our children the material they need to bridge the gap between human contact and lack of human contact, with Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp… in an ideal and enjoyable way, and for giving everyday life the structure it needs. According to your wish, I asked Paul for possible suggestions for improvement regarding homeschooling. He has none. His answer: “It’s fine like this!” Also from the point of view of my husband and me, it works perfectly. Now I would like to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your untiring efforts for the benefit of our children/your students. Be kindly greeted and stay healthy.”

"I am Aleksandros (a student in the 11th grade at your school) mother. I would just like to express my and my husband's deep appreciation for the amazingly peaceful and organised way the school you direct is functioning during this challenging beginning of a quite unusual year. We, as parents, are constantly and promptly helped with the information and assistance needed by everybody we contact (we have communicated with Ms. Camenzind, Mr. Russell and Ms. Fox so far). It has been a humbling experience to see how Ms. Camenzind and Mr. Russell have answered our emails at any time of the day (even at weekends or off school hours) and the day Alex arrived in Schaffhausen (first time he ever flew) Mr. Russell was available and Alex called him for directions in the evening. Ms. Camenzind and Mr. Russell have sent us instructions and information guides on a number of aspects of our children's school and boarding activity. And they have never shown signs of annoyance or tiredness while doing these valuable services. On the contrary. Dear Ms. Kohlhaas, Since we believe that every organisation functions based and guided by the principles its founders and directors set, we feel it is our duty to say the least you deserve 'Thank you!' While other schools throughout the world (we have a number of friends whose children are studying in IB schools abroad) are - rightfully - confused and disoriented, you are a fantastic example of great performance under stressful conditions. It is the beginning and there is a whole year ahead, but a good beginning is half the task."

I am quite happy for my IB results and I am very delighted by the kind emails I am receiving from the school staff. I am very glad that I have made the teachers proud. I know that this is not my accomplishment alone, as it would not be possible if it was not for the support of the ISSH staff (especially my mentor). When I got my results, one of the first people I contacted was Mr Kaminer. I remembered how much he used to emphasize the importance of our IB diplomas, and at the time I thought that was a bit of an overstatement. However I have realized now that Mr Kaminer was not exaggerating. Due to my results, I have been accepted to many highly ranked universities and have received many generous scholarship offers. Although, the IB diploma was not the only thing that I got from my 2 years in Schaffhausen. I learned how to live independently, made great friends, learned life lessons, learned how to properly play Connect4 etc. The experience in Schaffhausen made me a better individual. It helped me become quite disciplined, mature, open-minded. This experience was very unique and beautiful and I have recommended it to a lot of friends. Right now I am planning to go to Bocconi in Italy to study Artificial Intelligence. It is pretty exciting.

Our son, Klejdi, started his journey with you two years ago, in 2018, coming to Switzerland - a totally new environment; a new country, a new culture, new home - (and class)-mates, new teachers and a new ‘parent’. It has been overall a wonderful experience for Klejdi and, through him, for us, too. During this time, under your care and guidance, our son has grown to become a beautiful personality, both in the academic and, most importantly, in the personal and social aspect. Klejdi has enjoyed immensely and greatly appreciates the quality of teaching he had the opportunity to experience in such important (and not unrightfully considered as difficult) subjects as Economics, Physics, Mathematics, etc. Every teacher paid the utmost attention and gave his/her best to the subject s/he taught and definitely deserves great credits for Kljedi’s excellent performance. We thank you all! We would like to thank Klejdi’s home/class-mates as they have been part of Klejdi’s progress and have shared with him their academic and social concerns and successes. We would like to express our thanks to the helping staff in the boarding facilities as they have worked so that Klejdi and all the other children in boarding live in comfortable ‘homes’ and are assisted in their daily care work. We would like to express our great thanks to Ms. Camenzind who patiently and at all times assisted us with the necessary information exchange rendering, thus, our communication with the school smooth and fruitful. In the end we would like to direct our special thanks to some very important people in Klejdi’s progress during these last two years

BOARDING PROGRAMME

My name is Maira, I'm 18 and have been living in the boarding house for 2 years. I was looking for an international school in Switzerland and saw ISSH on a website reviewing Swiss private schools. The reason why I chose it was because it offered an opportunity to 'win' a full scholarship. Even though my parents are not very familiar with the international educational system/IB, they expected from the school to understand and respect the cultural differences of the students. As for me, I wanted to have a good experience in an international school that will help to get into a university. Since there were quite a few newbies in my class, making friends was super easy (and people were really nice). Regarding the activities- I'm not sure how to answer this one. There was not a lot of clubs that the school offered, and they were mostly for middle school students. That's understandable, since we, as the DP students, had to dedicate the majority of our time to school. But I wish there had been more interesting activities for us. My time at the boarding house was fun. I'm glad that Mr Russell considered our ages, subject choices and interests before moving us. I guess there was no particular thing I liked about the boarding house. It all depended on the supervisor, the day of the week,etc. But I definitely enjoyed it when we had our meetings with all the borders together because it also helped me to get over my homesickness. My English has definitely improved thanks to the balance between academic/formal language spoken at school and more 'everyday' English in the boarding house. Lastly, I would definitely recommend boarding ISSH to people who want to experience a different kind of boarding life! ISSH boarding is not like other boarding schools, it has a special family-like atmosphere. People are very supportive. Caretakers were on the same wave with us!

"My name is Veronika and I’m from Russia. I have been at ISSH for only 2 years, but it was enough time for me to feel there like home, and make lifelong friends. I have relatives in Schaffhausen and they told me about ISSH. I have always wanted to study abroad, and when I found out about the school I knew from the start it would be the place where I could fulfill my potential and get new experience. My goal was to get a better education and improve my English, which I have accomplished by being at ISSH and the Boarding house. As it is an international school English is a primary language both at school and at the boarding, which gives everyone an opportunity to learn and/or improve their language skills with support of staff and other students. Being miles away from home for such a long period of time can be a bit difficult sometimes, but all the staff members are trying their best to make all students feel comfortable and provide whatever support and help they might need. Living at the boarding house is an unusual experience that teaches you to be more responsible and independent. But the main thing that I have learnt, from living with other students all from different countries, is to be understanding and accepting towards each other. It gives an opportunity to learn from others and become more open and social with people. When I was there we had several events, like an “open house party” which included dinner. We have sent invitations to our neighbors and school friends, so they can come over to the house and see how it’s like to live there. Also, we had an interesting trip to Geneva organised by the head of the boarding, Mr.Russell. We had a tour at the Swiss chocolate factory and the well known collider. Besides that, with other boarding house students we spent a lot of time together, either baking desserts after dinner or by organizing movie nights. Boarding house in general has a very friendly environment, and it is an experience worth getting."

Testimonials