Annual Report 2021
Despite Corona, a Year of Learning, Growing, and Making Progress!
We don’t think we have to inform anyone that 2021 was a tough year for schools and for our wider society. The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in waves through various countries interrupted our routines, forced schools into distance learning, and directly impacted the health and wellbeing of thousands of people. But despite the hardships visited upon us by this pandemic (and sometimes because of the pandemic!), Munich International School made significant progress in 2021, and it is important for us to reflect upon and acknowledge this growth.
Gratitude to Our Local Heroes
We would be remiss if we did not immediately acknowledge and thank our school employees, who invested enormous effort into developing new ways to reach, teach, and support our students during this pandemic. Our teachers and staff implemented new digital systems nearly overnight. They alternated between in-person lessons and virtual lessons several times, which required them to completely re-think how they structured lessons and the kinds of activities they used to teach their students. Teachers and staff held planning meetings on evenings and weekends and kept their focus on our students and their learning, even when they, themselves, were sometimes struggling with their own challenges. Thank you to all MIS teachers and support staff for an incredible job!
Creating the MIS Strategy for Future Success
Over 60 students, parents, teachers, and school leaders engaged in working groups in 2021 to review our school’s current status and to create our strategy for the future. Their work, along with the leadership of the Board Strategy Committee, yielded our new strategic plan for 2021-25. That plan includes 5 continuing priorities:
- Developing our campus for learning and wellbeing
- Increasing student influence, choice, and agency
- Further developing our programmes of social and emotional learning
- Creating an inclusive culture and environment
- Further pursuing our commitment to sustainability
In addition to these continuing priorities, we will also launch initiatives to support three new strategic ambitions:
- Increasing relevance and real-world connections
- Increasing consistency of excellent pedagogy
- Ensuring a future-aligned curriculum
Over the next five years, MIS will work toward these important goals that will help ensure that MIS serves as a launch pad for students to become
- academically successful, life-long learners,
- creative and innovative thinkers,
- ethical & globally-minded contributors, and
- healthy & well-balanced individuals
who will thrive and make a positive impact in a complex and changing world.
Generous Community Support for Our FAB and HUB
In 2021 we were able to finally break ground on our new Fitness and Athletics Building. This new quadruple sports hall will provide much needed additional space for physical and health education, for athletics, for after-school activities, for assemblies and whole-school events, and for student and community wellness. Deep into the construction phase, the project is currently within budget and on-time. This new facility is slated to be completed in August 2022.
Our community demonstrated incredible generosity, donating more than €7,000,000 toward the FAB and HUB. We still need an additional €2,000,000 to meet our goal for these capital projects, and we are very hopeful that our community will come through.
Upon completion of the FAB, we hope to begin construction of the HUB. The HUB will create a new collaboration, research, and learning space. It will contain digital and analog resources and tools, and it will provide a variety of spaces that will encourage individual deep work, small group collaboration, and virtually-mediated communication. The HUB will be built within the shell of the existing MIS sports hall and will occupy a prominent position at the center of our beautiful campus.
Student Achievement Worthy of Celebration
Around the globe the graduating class of 2021 faced unprecedented challenges. Much of their IB Diploma Programme time was disrupted, and they had to develop novel ways of managing their learning and their preparation for the IB Diploma examinations. With their help of MIS’ extremely skilled and dedicated teachers, the MIS Class of 2021 achieved extraordinary results. Here is an overview:
- Average MIS IB Diploma score: 38
- Average global IB Diploma score: 33
- Number of MIS students with perfect score: 5
- Number of MIS students scoring 40+ points: 41%
- MIS IB Diploma pass rate: 100%
- Global IB Diploma pass rate: 89%
A record number of MIS graduates are now studying STEM subjects, and many gained admission to highly selective universities around the world, including (examples):
Germany: LMU (Munich), Technische Universität München, T.U. Berlin, Charité Berlin
United States: Stanford University, MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of North Carolina
United Kingdom: Imperial College, University of London, London School of Economics, University of Edinburgh
Other countries: University of Vienna, University of Singapore, University of Amsterdam, University of Toronto, IE University Madrid, University of Valencia
Emerging Even Stronger
The past year has been difficult, but those difficulties brought the many assets and advantages of Munich International School into even sharper focus. Our teaching team made us proud with their creativity, resilience, and determination. And our institution and leaders showed that they can be simultaneously agile and people-centred. We are emerging from a difficult year with new recognition of who we are and what we are capable of. We look forward to continuing to forge the future of relevant, student-centred, powerful education that prepares students to be contributors and leaders. Thank you for your contributions to our ambitious goals.
With warm regards,
Florian Wendelstadt Timothy J Thomas
Chair, MIS Board of Directors MIS Head of School