History

Munich International School opened its doors on September 19, 1966, welcoming approximately 120 students, in grades Reception through Eight to its location at Harthauserstrasse 48 in Harlaching. Such was the significance to the local community, that the opening was covered by the Bavarian television and played back on the seven o’clock news that night. The Headmaster, Weert Hunersen, commented: “Our school year has begun on a happy note. Except for minor delays with buses this morning, everything went smoothly”. So, began the life of MIS.

MIS came into existence in response to a need to meet the needs of a rapidly growing international community in Munich. Initially, the school was accredited in the United States and was designed to prepare students for U.S college entrance or for the British G.C.E. examinations.

Many of what we know today at MIS was evident also in those early days. Here, a note from the Assistant Headmaster, Art Ebeling, on 15 November 1966:

“Snowballs: We tried today to let the children throw snowballs in a specified area on the playground. Unfortunately, this did not work out well, and several children were hurt. Snowball throwing is therefore prohibited for all students where they are around the school grounds”

By the end of the school year 1968, the enrolment had grown to approximately 225 students, outgrowing the Harlaching facilities. This, combined with news that the lease of the Harlaching buildings from the U.S Army could not be continued for legal reasons, began the hunt for a new home for MIS. In August, an attractive ten-acre piece of land in Percha was discovered. It contained three buildings, a Schloss and two horse barns, all surrounded by a working farm. Schloss Buchhof was to be the new home of Munich International School. The two barns were renovated and renamed Haus Schweitz and Haus Munchen. Haus Munchen opened immediately; Haus Schweiz a year later. After much work by parents and staff, Monday 16 September saw the school open on schedule with a staff of twenty-six, including Ingrid Hesse and Stan Brown who moved with the school to Harlaching.

February 27, 1970 saw Haus Schweiz opened with a new gym on the second floor above the library. The Physical Education teacher at the time, Dan Glover, had to contend with low hanging roof beams, adapting activities to circumvent them.

In response to British parents’ need for courses qualifying their children for entrance to English Universities, the London University GCE’s (General Certificate of Education) were introduced. The school now had an enrolment of 309 representing 23 nations, and ran from grades reception through eleven. Two new positions- Junior and Senior School Principals – were added and filled by Stan Brown and Barrie Wiggins. The Headmaster was appointed to the board of directors of the European Council of International Schools.

A significant component of what is MIS today began when the first group of MIS students attended The Hague Model United Nations in the Netherlands. The students represented Albania. Also, in this year, MIS held its first graduation ceremonies on June 29.

Plans for the school’s expansion were thwarted this year due to an inability to cater for the number of sewerage units required for the expansion. The school was faced with too few seats to accommodate the expected enrolment (450) in the fall of 1972. At the same time as the summer Olympics were taking place in Munich, a Munich branch of the school was established to house a portion of the Junior School classes.

The fall of 1972 was to see another surprise for the MIS Community: the farm’s well, the only source of water for the school’s facilities, dried up, causing the school to close for two weeks. The 1972 yearbook records the incident:

A memorable experience in the minds of all MIS students [and staff] began on the morning of October 18, 1972. After plunging into the current of school life, one could sense that the flow of things had somehow slowed. This became obvious as early attempts to coax water out of the faucets and drinking fountains proved unsuccessful. The situation dried up completely, however, when the toilets could no longer be flushed.

The end of the 1972 school year saw a dip in enrolments, a need to reduce staff numbers, and a change of Headmaster as John long moved on to become Headmaster of the International School of Teheran. Long is noted as having given the school a sense of direction and guiding the school through what later came to be known as the ‘lean years’.

Floyd Travis joined MIS as the next Headmaster, coming from Addis Ababa International School in Ethiopia. Writing in 1996 in the Alumni Newsletter, Dr Travis reflected on why he enjoyed his five years at MIS:

In 1974 when I came to Munich, MIS was only eight years old and was still a grand experiment in international education. We all worked hard to develop the curriculum and course content to satisfy the requirements of the GCE examinations, and to be able to have the same courses meet the requirements of the American curriculum. We developed rapport, camaraderie and concern. We worked hard. We played hard. We tried to do what was good for the kids. Obviously it worked, or we would not be looking forward to the 30th year anniversary.

The first annual Heinrich Harrer Cup ski race was help in 1974, named after the world-renowned anthropologist, mountaineer and one time Austrian Olympic skier. Munich American School and the American School of Zurich attended; MIS took first place in most of the events.

Again, the need for major reconstruction of the buildings and additional sewerage provision presented problems for MIS. Enrolment was approaching 500, the maximum limit of the provisional licences for use of the Schloss Buchhof grounds. The Munich branch campus was also at near capacity. A contentious decision had to be taken to search for another location for MIS. However, the incorporation of Percha into Starnberg, which had extra sewerage rights, prevented the need to move. The school was granted sufficient sewerage rights and could stay at Buchhof.

After many years of seeking ways of gaining financial support from the government of Bavaria or Munich, 1977 saw MIS granted Ersatzschule status. This development enabled MIS to receive subsidy for operations and transport, but more significantly, under this status, the government was required by law to provide for eighty percent of all building costs. Funding the necessary renovations and expansion of facilities could be achieved.

Plans began for Junior School and Gymnasium. Floyd Travis left MIS to return to the US, but not before settling the school’s financial situation and bringing about a measure of normalcy to the school. Travis was succeeded by Willard Phend, a middle school principal from the American International School of Vienna, reported to have a forceful personality.

On the initiative of Chris Butler, MIS began the still strong support of UNICEF, with Junior School students raising DM 12,000.

By Spring 1980 the school population had reached an all-time high of approximately 625 students and over 60 staff members. Construction of the new Junior School and gymnasium began, at one stage causing students and staff to cross a long wooden bridge to get to school. Also at this time, the first computer classes were introduced at MIS, the first Maibaum raised and the International Baccalaureate began.

May 1981 saw the resignation of William H. Phend stemming from, as recorded by him in his letter to faculty of 5 May, as an “irreconcilable problem with a great portion of the teaching staff. We don’t fit”. Walter Schumacher was selected as the new Headmaster, joining MIS from Long Island, New York. The building of Junior School, Haus Bayern, and gymnasium were completed.

In 1983 MIS established a Sports Verien as an attempt to integrate MIS teams with local teams. Walter Schumacher resigned at the end of his third year.

Lister Hannah, an Australian who at the time was a principal at the United Nations International School in New York, was chosen to replace Schumacher in 1984. Hannah began the school’s self evaluation for the accreditation in 1984, culminating with full accreditation of MIS from both ECIS and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in the Spring of 1986. Enrolment exceeded 600. Rebuilding of Haus Schweiz, Senior School, began in summer of 1985 and was completed following April.

On June 13, 14 and 15, 1986 several hundred valued past pupils, parents and ‘professors’ (VPPs) came together to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of MIS, under the organisation of Dee Pattee and Brenda Shaw.

In the Spring of 1987 the second half of the Senior School, Haus Munchen, was completed, with the Richtfest of Haus Munchen and the Middle Tract taking place on 11 February 1987. The Sixth grade moved into the Schloss. Peter Gotts was appointed Junior School Principal n the fall of 1988 and the position of Senior School Principal was replaced by a Dean of Studies (Michael Webster) and a Dean of Students (Anna Wietrzychowska). Eif Phillips became the new Middle School Coordinator.

May 1 saw the raising of a new thirty-meter Maibaum. The first Trip Week took place in the fall of 1989 with journeys taken to such places as Bonn, Berlin, Paris, Greece, Yugoslavia, Southern France and Italy. Financial concerns were eased again by the agreement with the Bavarian government to extend its financial assistance to grades seven through nine. This also made it possible for MIS to maintain lower fees than other international schools in Germany and to establish a strong financial foundation for the future.

In the summer of 1990, MIS students Jesse Garcia and Nickie Shaver travelled to Tanzania with teachers Carol Geiger and Mark McGough to establish a helping relationship with the people of Tanzania. This relationship has evolved since that first visit into a significant component of the MIS Community outreach.

MIS celebrated the Unification of Germany with an Assembly on October 2, 1990. 

Enrolment approached 800 and the MIS Board determined that the school’s enrolment should not grow any larger so that the quality of education and the atmosphere could be retained. As a result, MIS fully supported the establishment of the Bavarian International School and was contracted by the board of BIS to manage its initial development. On 18 February, BIS, staffed by two MIS veterans, Pam Sonntag and Brenda Shaw, with Gert Rothstein acing as part-time coordinating administrator, opened its doors to kindergarten and first grade.

Lister Hannah left MIS at the end of December 1994 to take up the position of Head of Geelong Grammar in Melbourne, Australia. In reflecting on his time at MIS, Lister commented: “The number of students at MIS has grown and allowed us to broaden our academic program. We have diversified its subjects and students now have a greater number of options… The ESL department has been built from virtually nothing. We’ve built a strong Fine Arts department, and we’ve broadened options in science as well. Another important aspect is after-school activities. That program gives an extra dimension to preparing students for life.”

Brian Porter joined the school as Headmaster, just in time to lead the school through its next ECIS re-accreditation process.

The New Middle School building (Haus Starnberg) was completed at a cost of about nine million marks. Middle School was moved from the Schloss to bigger and brighter classrooms in the new building, including dedicated science classrooms and an auditorium.

30th Anniversary

MIS celebrated its 30th year anniversary with festivities during the week of June 7th – 16th. This included Fruehlingsfest on June 8th, 30th Birthday Celebration Reception on June 10th, a tour of Ludwig’s castles and Reunion Dinner of MIS Board members on June 11th, an Alumni Concert on June 14th and a Dinner Dance on the Starnberger See on Saturday June 15th. Quite a week!

Haus Starnberg was officially opened on Friday September 24, 1996. In attendance was the Burgermeister of Starnberg, Dr Thallmair.

1997

Head of School: Dr. Ray Taylor

IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) introduced into the Junior School

1998

IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) introduced

1999-2000

Emphasis on Technology- internet surfing season opens

930 students enrolled

2000-2001

Existing facilities need to be expanded to handle increased enrolment pressure

2001-2002

Portable classrooms are erected while planning for and construction of new classrooms and many additional purpose built facilities begins

2002-2003

MIS resembles a construction site as many new facilities are completed

2003-2004

A record 1208 students opens school on August 21. The  Performing Arts Centre was completed at the end of 2003. One of the first performances in the PAC was "Gold", performed on March 9 -10 2004.   An important component of MIS's traditions began in 2004 with the first Arts' Day being held in the PAC with the students celebrating the new facility through a whole day of performances. Arts Days continue to be an important part of life at MIS. The PAC has since housed many wonderful performances, band concerts, assemblies, the European Speech and Debate Tournament, the IB Art Exhibition, examinations and much more.

Head of School: Dr. Mary Seppala

2005 - 2006

Dr Mary Seppala joined MIS as the  Head of School in August 2005.

2009

Construction begins on cafeteria expansion.