Inter-Community School Zurich

A Campus Designed for Holistic Learning

The ICS campus in Zumikon — a quiet village community on the eastern edge of Zurich — provides a distinctive environment that actively shapes the school's educational philosophy. The campus is suburban and green, surrounded by woodland, and its facilities reflect ICS's belief that learning happens everywhere, not only in traditional classrooms.

Outdoor and Nature-Based Learning

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the ICS campus is its commitment to outdoor education. The school operates:

• A Research Garden with vegetable plots, a pond, and natural habitats for science and environmental education
• Forest/woodland areas supporting the Waldkinder (forest kindergarten) strand in Early Years
• Mud kitchens and nature play areas for younger students
• Wood-chip playground surfaces and shaded outdoor areas across grade levels

This investment in outdoor learning spaces is not incidental — it reflects ICS's core programme focus on environmental awareness and experiential learning aligned with IB PYP inquiry themes.

Academic and Arts Facilities

Inside the campus, students access:

• Three separate libraries: a Primary Library, Middle School Library, and Senior School Library, open daily from 08:00 to 16:30
• A gymnasium for indoor sports including basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics
• A dance studio for performing arts and fitness
• Outdoor sports fields for football (soccer), track and field, and other athletics
• A cafeteria serving daily hot lunches with vegetarian options and a salad bar, SGE-certified for nutritional quality
• An on-campus health room staffed by a school nurse

Location and Access

The campus is located at Strubenacher 3, 8126 Zumikon, approximately 18–25 minutes from Zurich city centre by public transport (Zurich S-Bahn to Zumikon station) and 25 minutes by car from Zurich Airport. ICS operates its own school bus service covering four zones across greater Zurich, making the suburban campus accessible for families living throughout the city and surrounding communities. Bus fees are tiered by zone, ranging from approximately CHF 1,150 (Zone 1) to CHF 2,750 (Zone 4) per year.

Origins in the Expatriate Community

Inter-Community School Zurich (ICS) was born out of necessity in 1960, when a group of expatriate families living in Zurich found themselves without access to an English-language education for their children. Gerald Atkinson, a British educator, stepped forward as founding headmaster and personally financed the school's early operations — a remarkable act of commitment that set the tone for the community-driven ethos ICS maintains to this day.

In those early years, the school operated out of improvised premises, including a rented hotel basement. Despite the humble beginnings, the school attracted families from across the international community in Zurich and steadily grew in both student numbers and ambition.

Establishing Roots in Zumikon

The most transformative milestone of ICS's early history came in 1973, when the school finally opened its own permanent campus in the village of Zumikon, on the eastern outskirts of Zurich. This move gave ICS a stable home from which it could plan long-term growth. The school had already been formally incorporated as a non-profit school foundation in 1968, cementing its legal status and governance structure independent of any single family or commercial interest.

Secondary School Expansion

Through the 1980s and into the early 1990s, ICS progressively expanded its grade range upward into secondary education. Grade 8 was added in 1987, Grade 9 in 1990, and Grade 10 in 1991, transforming ICS from a primary-focused institution into a full K–10 school. This expansion reflected the growing demand from the international community for a complete English-medium education in Switzerland without the need to send children abroad for secondary schooling.

IB Diploma and World School Authorisation

The pivotal academic development came in 1994, when ICS introduced the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP). This decision set the school apart locally and aligned it with the global network of IB World Schools. ICS has held IBO school code 000713 since its authorisation on 8 April 1993, and today delivers the full IB continuum — Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), and Diploma Programme (DP) — for students from Nursery (age 2) through Grade 12.

Today: A Truly International Community

More than six decades after its founding, ICS enrols approximately 800 students representing over 50 nationalities. The school has remained true to its founding spirit: a community-run, non-profit institution dedicated to providing a world-class English-medium education within the multicultural fabric of Zurich. Its Zumikon campus has expanded to include modern academic facilities, sports fields, performing arts spaces, and dedicated outdoor learning environments.

A Mission Built on Challenge and Support

The educational philosophy of Inter-Community School Zurich is captured in its official mission statement: "At ICS we are committed to providing a supportive and enabling learning environment in which all members of the community are challenged to achieve their individual potential, encouraged to pursue their passions, and expected to fulfil their responsibilities." This statement is not mere marketing copy — it directly shapes curriculum design, pastoral care, and the school's approach to student wellbeing.

The language is deliberate: students are both challenged and supported, a balance that reflects the IB's own philosophy of rigorous academic expectation within a nurturing community.

The Full IB Continuum

ICS is one of a relatively small number of schools worldwide to offer all three IB programmes in sequence:

• Primary Years Programme (PYP): For students in Nursery through Grade 5, the PYP frames learning through transdisciplinary inquiry themes, encouraging young children to ask questions, make connections, and take action.
• Middle Years Programme (MYP): Grades 6–10 follow the MYP, which develops conceptual understanding and intercultural awareness across eight subject groups, supported by MYP eAssessment for older students.
• Diploma Programme (DP): Grades 11–12 students pursue the full IB Diploma, with ICS achieving a mean score of 34.5 in 2025 — well above the global average of approximately 30 — with a 97% pass rate.

Inquiry, Outdoor Learning, and Character

Beyond the formal curriculum, ICS's philosophy extends into how students spend their time beyond the classroom. The school runs dedicated outdoor education programmes including a "Waldkinder" (forest kindergarten) strand, Research Garden, and woodland play areas. These environments are not supplementary — they are integral to how ICS conceives of learning as a whole-person endeavour.

Community service is embedded through the IB's CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) framework, and the school is a member of Round Square, an international network of schools committed to service, internationalism, democracy, environmentalism, adventure, and leadership.

Vision: Empowering Students to Change Their World

ICS's vision statement — "Empowering Students To Change Their World" — articulates an outward-facing ambition. The school believes that education is not confined to classrooms or textbooks, but should equip students to think critically, act with purpose, and lead with integrity. This vision is reflected in core values of being Welcoming, Humble, Resilient, and Committed — qualities the school explicitly names and models throughout school life.

Strong IB Diploma Outcomes

Inter-Community School Zurich's academic programme is anchored in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, and the school's published results for 2025 reflect a consistently high level of achievement:

• Candidates: 77 students sat the IB DP in 2025
• Pass rate: 97% (global average: approximately 79–80%)
• Mean score: 34.5 out of 45 (global average: approximately 30)
• Highest score: 44 out of 45
• Students scoring 35+: 39% of the cohort
• Bilingual diplomas awarded: 34% of students

These figures place ICS well above global IB benchmarks and reflect both the school's academic culture and its inclusive, open-entry admissions approach — meaning these results are achieved with a broad intake, not a highly selective one.

Open Entry, High Expectations

One of the most notable aspects of ICS's academic culture is that it combines inclusive admissions with genuine academic rigour. The school does not operate a selective entrance examination. Students who join with limited English are supported through the EAL (English as an Additional Language) programme, with language scaffolding provided throughout Primary and Middle School and an expectation that students will be ready for full DP immersion by Grades 11–12.

This approach — sometimes described as "high support, high expectations" — is central to the IB philosophy and is evidenced by a pass rate that approaches 100% despite the non-selective intake.

Languages and Bilingual Achievement

The 34% bilingual diploma rate is a particularly notable metric. To earn a bilingual IB diploma, students must complete at least two subjects from different curriculum groups in different languages, or study a Language A (first language) in a language other than English. At ICS, with students from over 50 nationalities, this level of bilingual achievement reflects both the diverse mother-tongue backgrounds of students and the school's multi-language curriculum offering (German A, Spanish B, French B alongside English A).

University Counselling and Destinations

ICS maintains a dedicated university counselling programme to support students in navigating global university applications. While the school does not publish a leavers' destination list in its research-accessible materials, the strength of IB scores — with a mean of 34.5 and 39% of students above 35 — positions graduates competitively for selective universities worldwide. The school is recognised as being ranked within the top 10 schools in Switzerland by its own marketing materials.

The Community at the Heart of ICS

The word "Community" is not accidental in the school's name. Inter-Community School Zurich was literally founded by a community — a group of expatriate families who pooled resources and commitment to build something lasting for their children and those who would follow. More than 60 years later, that founding spirit remains visible in the school's daily culture.

Who Attends ICS?

ICS currently enrols approximately 800 students representing more than 50 nationalities. The student body is predominantly composed of children from internationally mobile expatriate families — diplomats, corporate assignees, academics, and NGO workers — alongside some Swiss-resident international families choosing an English-medium IB education. This diversity is one of the school's most celebrated characteristics, and the school's core value of being Welcoming is directly shaped by the need to integrate new arrivals gracefully throughout the academic year.

ICS accepts applications year-round, reflecting the reality that expat families relocate at unpredictable times, not only in August. This rolling admissions model is deliberately designed to serve internationally mobile families.

Languages and Cultural Exchange

With students from over 50 countries, ICS is a daily exercise in intercultural exchange. English is the medium of instruction, but German is taught from Early Years onwards, and French and Spanish are available in Middle and Senior School. After-school mother-tongue programmes allow students to maintain their home languages, and the bilingual diploma rate of 34% in 2025 reflects the genuine multilingual capability of the student body.

Membership in Global School Networks

ICS's commitment to internationalism is reinforced through its membership in several prestigious networks:

• Round Square — a global network of schools united by a commitment to service, internationalism, democracy, environmentalism, adventure, and leadership
• Council of International Schools (CIS) — a global accreditation and membership body for international education
• Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS) — connecting international schools across Switzerland
• ECIS (European Council of International Schools) — supporting international education across Europe
• NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools, USA) — connecting ICS to independent school communities globally

These memberships give ICS students access to international conferences, service projects, exchanges, and leadership forums that extend learning well beyond the Zumikon campus.