St. Gilgen International School

St. Gilgen International School was founded in 2008 by the Austrian architect and entrepreneur Alexander Serda and since then has grown steadily to the current enrolment of 225. The current capacity is 250.[1] In 2013 the school was taken over by the British-American investment firm HIG Capital who also acquired the Italian International Schools of Europe Group. After a short period of self managed administration proceedings in April 2016, and brief negotiations with the nearby energy drinks company Red Bull,[2] the school was taken over by the newly founded St. Gilgen International School Privatstiftung[3] on May 15, 2016, a non profit foundation which was founded by parents [4] and has since then been managed by the board members Gert Fahrnberger, Christian Dreyer and Andrea von Baumbach. The purpose of the foundation is to support and further develop the school.[5]

Since April 2017 the school maintains a cooperation with the pre-college programme of the Mozarteum University of Salzburg.

The school was built on a site beside Lake Wolfgang which previously contained green fields and some derelict villas. The villas were renovated and five teaching buildings were constructed over 12 months during 2007 and 2008.

The school is located in St. Gilgen on Lake Wolfgang 30 minutes' drive from Salzburg, Austria

The school's campus is in a lakefront park with renovated historic and newly built academic and boarding facilities, in the centre of the village of St. Gilgen.

There are three boarding houses for students situated in different locations around the village. The boarding houses were all originally hotels.

Academic courses are taught in English. StGIS offers a Primary School programme which spans Grades 4-6 and a Middle School programme which includes Grades 7-10. Grade 10 students study the Pre-IB curriculum. The International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) programme is taught in Grades 11 and 12.

Primary School and Middle School students study a range of courses including English language and literature, German, World Studies, Sciences, Mathematics, the Arts, Music, and Movement & Wellbeing. Middle School students also study an additional modern language.

Currently, St. Gilgen International School offers the following IB Subjects:

• Languages: English A, B (HL and SL); German A,B (HL and SL); German Ab Initio (SL); Spanish B (Hl and SL); Spanish Ab Initio; French (HL and SL); French Ab Initio
• Humanities: History (HL and SL); Geography (HL and SL); Economics (HL and SL)
• Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics (all available in HL and SL); Sport Science SL
• Mathematics: IB Mathematics HL; IB Mathematics SL; IB Mathematics Studies SL
• Arts: Music, Visual Arts, Theatre Arts (all available in HL and SL)
• Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

For the class of 2014, the IB average points score was 33 points, compared to a World average of less than 30 points. The pass rate was 96% compared to a World average pass rate of less than 80%. The class of 2014 had 28 students who took the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This was the school's third set of results and the previous two year groups have also performed well: an average of 33 points in 2013 and an average of 34 points in 2012.

In addition to the academic programme, StGIS has a wide variety of outdoor and cultural activities as a part of the curriculum. Outdoor activities include skiing, water sports (swimming and rowing), soccer, basketball, hiking, volleyball, tennis, golf, horse riding and yoga. In addition, the extensive Outdoor Education programme includes kayaking, Nordic skiing, sailing, mountaineering, rockclimbing, hillwalking, waterskiing, mountain biking, and avalanche awareness training. Cultural activities such as musical theatre, drama, art & design, music instruction, and stage production are all available to students. Throughout the academic year, the Arts Faculty take students on educational trips with a creative focus to museums and galleries in cities across Europe.

St. Gilgen International School also runs a programme of expeditions. These have included trekking the Silk Road in China, climbing Mont Blanc to the summit, working at an orphanage in Tanzania, kayaking in the Croatian islands and climbing volcanoes in Nicaragua.

There are about 225 students (2022/23), coming from more than 40 different nations around the world. About 50% of the student body originates from Austria and Germany. The other largest groups of students are from the UK, USA and Eastern Europe. Additionally, there are smaller numbers of students from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Faculty and staff are also international and mostly native speakers of the English language.

• School Website

47.7671°N 13.3669°E / 47.7671; 13.3669