Winter 2025

Dear GISC Community,

Highlights from Q4/2024

GISC Becomes Official German School Abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule – DAS)

In a landmark development for international education in the Midwest, the German International School Chicago (GISC) was officially recognized as a German School Abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule – DAS) on October 1, 2024. At a festive signing ceremony attended by 100 guests, Ralf Beste, Director-General for Culture and Society from the German Foreign Office, formalized the agreement with GISC Board Vice Chair Julie Steffen.

“We can be very proud of what we have achieved over the past 15 years as a school,” said Steffen at the ceremony. “Looking forward, we have a ton of work to do, but I am really excited about growing the school and making it even better.”

GISC became the only accredited German School Abroad in the American Midwest, joining prestigious DAS locations in Boston, New York, Washington, Silicon Valley, and Portland. The accreditation is a seal of quality for the school and provides access to comprehensive support including pedagogical consulting, teacher recruitment, and professional development.

School Spirit Shines at Oktoberfest Celebrations

GISC celebrated Oktoberfest with two joyful events: On Friday, September 20, students and families kicked off the festivities with games and Bavarian pretzels after school. The following evening, our adult community gathered for an authentic celebration featuring Stiglmeier's delicious bratwurst and craft beer generously provided by local breweries Begyle and Dovetail.

The events, organized by Board Chair Kurt Gamauf, Board Trustee Mariam Pahl, Enrollment Manager Andrea Edeler and Development Director Jaclyn Stacy, transformed our Berteau Avenue campus into a slice of Munich. The school community embraced the spirit wholeheartedly, with many guests sporting traditional dirndls and lederhosen, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Celebrating German Day with Consulate General at Union Club Chicago

GISC faculty attended the Day of German Unity reception hosted by Consul General Michael Ahrens at the Union League Club's Lincoln Ballroom. The October 1 event celebrated German-American relations and provided valuable networking opportunities with Chicago's German business and cultural community. We appreciated the invitation to join this significant diplomatic occasion marking German reunification.

8th Grade Engages in Service Learning to Benefit Nourishing Hope

Three of our Eighth Graders - Otto, Louisa, and Ava - are leading a meaningful partnership with Nourishing Hope food pantry. They've already raised $250 through a successful bake sale and completed their first volunteer shift at the distribution center. Their project combines direct service through volunteering, fundraising through student-led initiatives, and awareness-building through an upcoming presentation to the Middle Years Programme about food insecurity in our area. 

The group continues to work volunteer shifts and explore new partnership opportunities with Nourishing Hope demonstrating how a small but dedicated team can create lasting community impact.

Building Meaningful Connections to Celebrate Austrian National Day

GISC celebrated Austrian National Day with a vibrant week of cultural and business connections in October 2024. The celebration highlighted Austria's growing economic ties with the United States, now Austria's fourth-largest investment partner, through meetings with Advantage Austria and local Austrian businesses in Chicago.

We were honored to connect with Ambassador Dr. Petra Schneebauer and Honorary Austria Consul Reinhold Krammer during special events associated with Austrian National Day and a reception sponsored by Advantage Austria, strengthening our international relationships. The week showcased GISC's strong Austrian community, including our dedicated educators Stefan Karner, Nicole Bernroitner, and Laura-Maria Mayerhofer-Kohlmann, who bring authentic Austrian perspectives to our classrooms.

Special recognition goes to our GISC Board Chair, Kurt Gamauf, a member of the Austrian community whose decade-long commitment to our school - first as a parent, then as a board member - exemplifies the deep Austrian-American connections that enrich our school community.

GISC Showcases International Music with Jazz Concert

GISC welcomed renowned jazz musicians Chico Freeman and Reto Weber for a special all-school assembly on October 18, 2024. Made possible through generous sponsorship from the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago and the Swiss Benevolent Society of Chicago, this unique performance brought world-class music to our students.



Swiss Consul General Pascal Bornoz joined our preschool through 8th-grade students for this extraordinary event. Weber, credited with inventing the Hang percussion instrument, performed alongside Chicago-born Freeman, who has collaborated with legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, and Sting.

The concert exemplified GISC's commitment to exposing students to diverse cultural experiences through international partnerships, enriching our community through music and cultural exchange. What’s more, Weber’s invention of the Hang instrument exemplifies the potent interface between science and the arts that informs our approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM).

GISC Adopts Official Wolf Mascot

We are the GISC Wolves! After a school-wide vote including the entire community, GISC proudly adopted the wolf as its official mascot. Recent middle school graduate Scarlett Chao created the stunning digital artwork that was introduced officially at Laternenfest in November – to cheers and howling from our students – and now represents our school spirit. Students and families can showcase their GISC pride with wolf-themed spirit wear available in our Spirit Store.

Elementary School Assembly Focused on Gratitude and Social Skills

On Monday December 9, our K-8 students came together for an elementary school assembly. This school year all assemblies center around the IB Approaches to Learning, five areas for development of transdisciplinary skills. This time we focused on self-management skills and in particular how to self-regulate emotionally. First we reviewed our gratitude exercise by sorting ourselves into groups for the things we are thankful for. 

The week prior to the assembly our students wrote down what they are thankful for on leaves, which we collected on our "Baum der Dankbarkeit". We recognized that reminding ourselves of the things that we are thankful for helps us to persevere in difficult or frustrating moments and builds our resilience. Afterwards, our Counseling Resource Teacher Marigona Rommel-Kastrati led students through examples on how we can respond to words given to us in the best possible manner. Our students really enjoy these monthly exercises that build community but also strengthen our skill set, socially and academically, beyond the subject specific skills.

Laternenfest Makes GISC Spirit Shine Bright

For our annual Laternenfest & St. Martin's Parade, the GISC campus was aglow with handcrafted lanterns, the aroma of grilled sausages and baked goods, and the joyful voices of our community singing traditional songs during the sold-out event.

Our sincere gratitude goes to the GISC Parent Group (GPG), our hardworking Laternenfest Committee, and our dedicated staff and faculty members who contributed greatly to the success of this event. We also extend a big thank you to all the volunteers who lent a hand, as well as everyone who brought delectable treats to share.

A special thank you to the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chicago for their generous sponsorship and support in promoting these beloved German festivities. Their partnership is invaluable.

Phase One of Playground Updates Completed, GISC Students Delighted

In the Spring of 2024 at our annual Gala, we raised over $130,000 to jumpstart Phase One of our multi-phase playground renovation project. At the end of the school year we were the lucky recipients of an additional, anonymous $100,000 gift of support for the project, in recognition of founding GISC Trustee Mariam Pahl's tireless efforts on behalf of the German International School Chicago community. The generosity of our donors allowed us to complete Phase One of the renovation as early as the end of December 2024. Special thanks to our Director of Building Operations, Stephen Waguespack, for overseeing this key update to our campus.

The renovation replaces traditional asphalt with natural playscapes, wooden climbing structures, and mulched surfaces, creating an engaging outdoor classroom that aligns perfectly with our preschool program's emphasis on nature-based learning and discovery. The new design features relocated garden beds and sandbox areas, complemented by a convenient new sidewalk connecting our preschool gate to the building entrance.

Our students' excitement was palpable as they explored their new playground just before Winter Break. This enhanced outdoor space supports our educational philosophy of combining play-based learning with academic excellence, allowing children of all ages to engage with nature in both structured and unstructured ways.

Permanent Math Exhibit Puts the Fun in Unit Conversions

A new permanent interactive math exhibition opened on GISC's third floor in late December, designed and created by five middle school students under the guidance of Dr. Inka Kirchenbüchler, Director of Teaching & Learning. The hands-on exhibit helps visitors explore and understand both metric and U.S. customary measurement systems through engaging activities and quiz sheets, making concepts like temperature conversion, volume, and weight accessible and fun for all ages.

The exhibit, installed across from the library, represents an innovative approach to mathematics education and has been submitted to the Deutsche Industrie und Handelskammer's annual competition. Created as part of the first-semester After Care Program, this student-led project demonstrates GISC's commitment to making STEAM education engaging and interactive. Competition results will be announced this spring - our fingers are crossed!

GISC Celebrates Giving Tuesday

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported our efforts on Giving Tuesday on Tuesday, December 3, which helped us raise over $35,000 in one day and over $100,000 to-date for our GISC Fund. This extraordinary generosity is ensuring we have the resources we need to continue providing our students with an outstanding educational experience. 

In addition to robust and enthusiastic support from our GISC families, we saw our highest rate of Giving Tuesday participation ever from both non-parent individual donors - particularly our grandparent community - and companies matching employee gifts. All of these efforts helped fuel a variety of contests on campus with prizes for our students in the winning classrooms. They are very excited for the pizza, ice cream, and fun coming their way later this winter! 

If you missed out on our Giving Tuesday festivities, but you would like to support our GISC Fund, you can make a gift here.

GISC Winter Performance Closes Out 2024 on a Festive Note

On December 20, our annual Winter Performance filled Bethany United Church of Christ with joy and music. Beginning with a coffee reception in the GISC gym for our guests, the event brought together our entire community for a morning of stellar performances. We were especially delighted to welcome virtual guests from around the world who joined via Facebook livestream, making this truly an international celebration.

Our heartfelt thanks go to our talented music teachers - Herr Sanchez, Herr Zair, and Herr Karner - as well as our preschool teachers for preparing our students for this memorable event. The packed house and enthusiastic response reflected the strong community spirit that makes GISC special.

Missed the performance? You can still experience the magic by watching the recorded livestream.

Enrollment Open for the 2025/26 School Year

Would you like to learn more about our IB World School and the bilingual, international education we offer? If so, please schedule a personal school tour or join us at an upcoming Open House, as we have limited spots available for the upcoming school year.

Discover our well-rounded bilingual, international education tailored to students from Preschool through Grade 8 in an individualized learning setting. Tour our new nature playground! Find out more about the IB Primary Years Program (PYP) and Middle Years Program (MYP), and how we help our students become global citizens.

For students without German language skills up to Grade 6, we offer accelerated German language development through our Become Bilingual Program (BBP) in Grades K-2 and our Fast Track German Language Program (FTGLP) in Grades 3-6. These programs employ intensive German language immersion in small group settings, supplemented by additional classroom support. Learn more by scheduling a personal tour today! We look forward to meeting you.

Join Our Free Weekly Playgroup

Is your little one not quite ready for preschool yet? Then we have got you covered! Join us for our free weekly playgroup designed to create a fun environment for babies and toddlers up to the age of 3.

Our playgroup meets at our gym every Wednesday from 8:30 am to 10:00 am while school is in session. Weather permitting, we may spend time outdoors in our playground or at a nearby park.

Our playgroup is an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow parents and caregivers with an interest in the German language and culture, and it provides a gentle introduction to the German language for your child. No German language skills are needed – all are welcome!

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