When one of my relatives told me of an international school getting established in Grafenrheinfeld, I was very surprised. Grafenrheinfeld itself, a middle-sized village outside of Schweinfurt, had only been known to me as the home of Luke and Duke, the Nukes. I could not envision any expat families settling in or near Schweinfurt for a three-year overseas assignment, nor could I imagine repat families to be willing to pay for enrolling their children in a private school. I must have underestimated the local clientele. Nevertheless, the International School Mainfranken (ISM) opened its doors in September 2006 to its very first students.

Presently, a returning family is considering enrolling their offspring at ISM and therefore asked for my opinion about the school as our own family has been connected to a long-established international school for the past 14 years, Frankfurt International School, founded in 1961.

I have never visited ISM as we have only passed by the school when driving to my hometown, so I visited their website. The student body seems to be fairly small yet since their opening three years ago. Their website does not get updated as often as it should be. But to be fair, I would like to make the following suggestion for anyone contemplating enrolling their children at ISM:  Call the admissions officer to schedule an appointment for a regular school day to see classes in session, then view the facilities, ask about future plans, etc. Plan a second appointment to take your child along. One could enroll the child with the perspective of just one year on a trial basis. Viewing this trial basis as an option might make your choice easier when local German schools and/or boarding schools are also being considered.

Changing schools is less dramatic for expat families as most have to do this every few years anyway. Children are often more adept at adjusting to a new environment, language, culture, etc. than adults.

My own children have questioned me why we are still here, when most other students have moved on. They would love to live in foreign countries and find changing schools, gaining new friends, moving to a new location to be normal. We make up part of the 20% of long-term families.

Personally, I would always favor enrolling children at an international school, if feasible. This is not only because of English being the principal language of instruction, but also because of another lifelong process – Learning how to become a good global citizen (FIS mission statement).

Visit International School Mainfranken

Tags: Grafenrheinfeld, International School Mainfranken, international school near Schweinfurt, ISM

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