American International School of Vienna

AIS serves approximately eight hundred students from sixty countries, with about half of the total American or Austrian. The school is divided into three divisions—Elementary (pre-kindergarten to grade five), Middle (grades six, seven, and eight), and High School (grades nine to twelve). The typical class has twenty students, with many language classes considerably smaller.

The average stay at AIS is four years, with approximately 200 new students admitted each year.

The international parent community is predominantly affiliated with embassies, international organizations, and international corporations. Local parents tend to work in private businesses or such professions as medicine and law. [1]

Each of the three academic divisions is headed by a Principal. In addition, the Senior Leadership Team includes the School Director, the Director of Athletics, Activities, and Events, the Director of Technology, the Director of Admissions, the Business Manager, and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. There are also counselors in each of the three divisions and librarians for the Elementary and Secondary schools. A full-time nurse-practitioner oversees the school's health unit.

The school is divided into several areas: the elementary school, the middle school, the high school, the villa and the gyms. The school has 4 gyms, one field, two libraries, one theater and one amphitheater. There are 17 staircases in the building, and there is no handicapped accessibility.

The teaching faculty numbers over 100 individuals. Over 70% of teachers hold advanced degrees, with several having earned doctorates. A substantial majority are U.S. citizens, but the school does have teachers of other nationalities, including faculty from Europe, Canada, the Middle East, the Far East, and South America.

AIS faculty range in age from 27-65, with an average and median age of about 46. The average stay of a teacher at AIS is over ten years. [1]

AIS Vienna's 10 acres (4.0 ha) campus overlooks the city and is adjacent to the Vienna Woods and the Neustift vineyards. Made up of seven adjoining buildings, the campus features libraries, a cafeteria, sports facilities, six science laboratories, art and music studios, a theater, an outdoor amphitheater, and an outdoor classroom. The city of Vienna makes up the ‘extended campus’.

The land for the school was bought by the U.S. government in the late 1950s, using U.S. government funds obtained through the Marshall Plan, and the school occupies the premises in perpetuity. The school is built along a sloping hillside. AIS is not easily accessed by students or parents with physical challenges.

Classrooms are equipped with Smart Boards, elementary students have ample access to laptops and iPads, and beginning with grade five, students are given their own laptops each year. The campus features a wireless internet and printing network, and teachers work with e-learning platforms. The school wireless network blocks all useful websites.[1]

• October 2014: Jane Goodall
• September 2016: Rusty Schweickart and Dumitru Prunariu

• Thomas G. Stemberg, American businessman and inventor, Co-Founder of Staples Inc
• Left Boy, Austrian musician
• Bryan Adams, Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician
• James Hersey, Austrian-American musician

From Grade 6 and upwards, AIS has retreats at the beginning of the year to the following destinations:

• Grade 6: Hallstatt
• Grade 7: St Johann im Pongau
• Grade 8: Lake Neusiedl
• Grade 9: Hohe Veitsch
• Grade 10: Schladming
• Grade 11: Danube River
• Grade 12: Danube River

Along with these destinations, Spanish, French and German classes usually take other retreats to destinations in Spain, France, or Germany.

The school has its own broadcasting club, called the KSN (Knights Student Network). It broadcasts SCIS, ISST and CEESA events that take place in the school, and broadcasts school news and other news.

• Official School Site