News

GISC is Trending in All the Right Directions

Weekly Update from the Director - September 6, 2024
Dear GISC Community,
As we have now successfully kicked off the new 2024/25 school year, we are pleased to share with you a brief snapshot of the overall advancement and development of our school. I'm pleased to report that GISC is trending in all the right directions across key areas.

Enrollment: 
  • Our current enrollment stands at 185 students, and we expect this year’s enrollment to expand to reach approximately 200 students over the course of this school year. Over the past three years, GISC has enjoyed a mid-year enrollment of 19 students.Should GISC enrollment reach 200 students this year, we will have recorded a 30% increase in enrollment since the 2020/21 school year (see overall graph below for historic enrollment rates).
  • Looking deeper, this year’s enrollment has benefited greatly from a low attrition rate of 11 percent from the end of the last school year to the beginning of this school year. This is the second year in a row that GISC has remained below the 12% attrition mark – a benchmark that compares favorably with other international schools that experience a higher-than normal mobility rate among its families.
  • Our Middle School now features classes between 13 and 17 students at all grade levels other than this year’s 8th grade. We are projecting a Middle School size of about 60 students for the following year.
  • Our Afterschool programming also has grown. At the beginning of this school year, two-thirds of our students are enrolled in our afternoon programming, while additional Middle School students participate in the Lycee Francais de Chicago afternoon program

Faculty & Staff:
  • GISC now counts 29 faculty members, of whom five are part-time.The faculty’s profile offers an even mix of teachers who have been at GISC for three years or more and teachers who are in their first two years of working at GISC. 
  • We now have an experienced administrative team of ten professionals, of which Preschool Director Nathalie Kohlhaas’ position is half-time (she also serves as Lead Teacher of our Preschool Igel class).
  • In the last two years, with tremendous effort by Director of Teaching & Learning Inka Kirchenbuechler, the hiring and onboarding of new teachers have improved. Early planning has resulted in hiring many new teachers by January, a time when the selection of candidates is aided by multiple applications and great interest by applicants to work in Chicago.

Academics & Programs:
  • Our Middle School faculty is now in its second year of candidacy as an IB Middle Years Programme School with an anticipated certification visit occurring in 2025/26. This transformation now aligns the entire Preschool through 8th grade program according to the IB curriculum framework.
  • Our students’ academic achievements are best illustrated by the success of high school placements earned by the Class of 2024 with students gaining admission to multiple selective enrollment Chicago high schools. The testing data generated by the MAP testing shows that students progressively achieve higher percentile rankings, culminating in an 8th grade snapshot of students on average scoring in the highest quintile (>80th percentile).

Facilities:
  • This past summer, our school successfully upgraded its infrastructure by investing in a brand-new roof, and with the help of generous families and friends of GISC donating funds, we anticipate a completion of our first phase of playground improvements in early December. It will be awesome.
  • Over the past six years, GISC has invested over $2 million in building upgrades.
With that said, our new 2024/25 is well underway with tremendous energy and growth momentum for German International School Chicago (GISC). I wish everyone a fantastic weekend and look forward to seeing you tomorrow at the Annual Steuben Parade.

Sincerely,

Ben Hebebrand
GISC Director
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1726 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613 | +1-773-857-3000 | info [at] germanschoolchicago.com
German International School Chicago (GISC) is an IB World School that prepares students to become well-rounded, creative, and responsible global citizens. Located in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, GISC provides students with a German-English bilingual education in a supportive and individualized learning environment. GISC graduates are prepared academically and socially to succeed in an increasingly global world. Now enrolling Preschool to 8th Grade.

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