Zurich International School

A Multicultural Community with Local Roots

ZIS describes itself as a place where students from more than 60 nationalities come together, yet the school deliberately maintains a close-knit atmosphere. With approximately 1,300 students across two campuses, ZIS is large enough to offer extensive programming but small enough that students, faculty, and families recognise one another across year groups.

Who Attends ZIS?

The student body is approximately 86% international and 14% local Swiss, reflecting the school's historic roots serving Zurich's large expatriate professional community. Common nationalities include American, British, German, and Swiss, alongside a wide spread from Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. This diversity is not incidental—it is actively celebrated through cultural events, mother-tongue language programmes, and international days.

Service and Citizenship

From its earliest years (with service projects dating to 1964–1965), ZIS has embedded community service into its culture. Current service-oriented activities include:

• ZIS Cares — school-wide volunteer coordination
• Team Ghana — student-led international development project
• Eco-Schools — environmental stewardship initiative
• Social Justice Club — advocacy and awareness
• Amnesty International Club — human rights education
• Nepal Service Club and Operation Smile — global health partnerships
• Love Our Lions — peer mentoring within the school

The IB's Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) component of the DP formalises this culture at the senior level, requiring students to document and reflect on meaningful service commitments.

Counselling and Pastoral Support

ZIS employs six dedicated counsellors across Kindergarten through Grade 12, covering social-emotional learning, academic advising, and university guidance. The school's Comprehensive Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy underpins a commitment to student safety and wellbeing. While there is no formal house system, advisory groups provide consistent pastoral check-ins throughout students' ZIS journey.

Parent and Family Engagement

Open Houses are held annually in March, and parent-teacher conferences are scheduled twice yearly. The school's admissions process, which accepts applications year-round, is designed to be welcoming rather than gatekeeping—reflecting the founding ethos of an extended family community.

Six Decades of Growth in Zurich

ZIS traces its origins to a single building on a hilltop in Kilchberg, on the shores of Lake Zurich. In 1963, a small cohort of internationally mobile families established the American International School of Zurich (AISZ), enrolling students from Grades 1–9 in what was described as an extended family rather than a formal institution. The first headmaster, Dr. John Mattern, set an early tone of innovation and community engagement—organising a student trip to Israel in 1964 and pioneering service-learning projects within the first two years.

Key Milestones

• 1963 — AISZ founded in Kilchberg; inaugural class of ~43 students
• 1964 — First international student trip (Israel); early service projects established
• 1970 — English-language kindergarten added; second headmaster August Zemo appointed
• 1971 — Gained accreditation from ECIS (now CIS) and NEASC, establishing international credibility
• 2001 — IB Diploma Programme authorised, cementing the school's commitment to the full IB continuum
• 2000s — School reorganised across dedicated Lower School (Wädenswil) and Upper School (Adliswil) campuses
• 2022 — New purpose-built Middle School campus opened in Adliswil, featuring state-of-the-art academic and arts facilities
• 2023 — Launch of 'ZIS 2030: Forward Together' strategic plan, focusing on bilingual education expansion, community wellbeing, and global impact

From AISZ to ZIS

The renaming from the American International School of Zurich to Zurich International School reflected a deliberate broadening of the school's mission—away from a single national identity and toward a genuinely international, multicultural community. Today, ZIS serves over 1,300 students from more than 60 nationalities, making it one of the largest and most diverse international schools in Switzerland.

Looking Forward

The ZIS 2030 strategic plan articulates ambitions around deepening bilingualism, expanding the IB bilingual pathway through Upper School, strengthening community partnerships, and embedding sustainability into campus operations. The opening of the Adliswil campus in 2022 represents the most significant infrastructure investment in the school's history and provides facilities—including a performance theatre, makerspace, indoor climbing wall, and triple-height gymnasium—that support the school's expanded vision.

Academic Outcomes That Reflect the Mission

ZIS's academic culture is distinguished by its commitment to depth over breadth, inquiry over rote learning, and global citizenship alongside disciplinary mastery. These principles translate into strong, measurable outcomes.

IB Diploma Results

In 2025, ZIS reported:

• Mean IB DP score: 35.0 (world average ≈ 30)
• Pass rate: 97.8%
• Candidates: approximately 50

These figures place ZIS consistently among the stronger IB schools in Switzerland. The school does not offer A-Levels or IGCSE—its entire secondary curriculum is framed within the IB MYP and DP, with Advanced Placement (AP) courses additionally available in sciences and mathematics for students seeking further rigour.

Subject Breadth in the DP

ZIS's IB DP subject menu is exceptionally wide, reflecting its multilingual student body. Language A courses are offered in English, German, Spanish, French, Dutch, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hebrew, Norwegian, Ukrainian, and more—allowing nearly every student to study their mother tongue at diploma level. Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, ESS), Mathematics (AA and AI, both HL and SL), Humanities (History, Geography, Economics, Psychology), and Arts (Visual Arts, Theatre, Music, Design Technology) complete the offering alongside the compulsory Theory of Knowledge core.

University Destinations

With 98% of graduates proceeding to higher education, ZIS places students at universities across Europe, North America, and beyond. In 2025 (based on Swiss Private Schools data), notable placements included:

• University of Zurich — 22 students
• ETH Zurich — 15 students
• Imperial College London — 4 students
• University of Bath — 3 students
• University of Oxford — 2 students

Approximately 34% of graduates reached QS Top 50 universities and around 83% reached QS Top 100, demonstrating consistently strong placement across the full cohort rather than just outlier admissions.

A Non-Selective, High-Achievement Model

What makes ZIS's outcomes particularly notable is that the school is explicitly non-selective—it does not filter admissions by academic ability. This means its strong IB results and near-universal university progression reflect genuine value added by the school's inquiry-based pedagogy, small class sizes (averaging 16–20 students), and a 10:1 student-teacher ratio, rather than an intake advantage.

Two Campuses, One Community

ZIS's two campuses serve distinct age groups while sharing a common culture and identity. Both are well-connected by public transport (Wädenswil and Adliswil stations are nearby), and a school bus network covers the wider Zurich region.

Lower School – Wädenswil Campus

The Wädenswil campus is designed around the developmental needs of children aged 3–10 (Preschool through Grade 5). Features include:

• Age-appropriate playgrounds and nature playscapes — both indoor and outdoor, promoting exploratory play
• 1:1 iPad programme from Grade 1 through Grade 5
• Purpose-built primary classrooms with flexible learning configurations
• Full-size gymnasium for physical education
• Proximity to lake and natural environments, supporting outdoor learning

The campus atmosphere is intentionally nurturing and community-oriented, reflecting the PYP's emphasis on wonder, collaboration, and student agency.

Upper/Secondary – Adliswil Campus (Opened 2022)

The Adliswil campus, which opened in 2022 for Middle and Upper School students (Grades 6–12), represents a transformational investment in ZIS's physical infrastructure. Facilities include:

Sports and Physical Education:

• Rugby and soccer field
• All-weather tennis and basketball courts
• Triple-height gymnasium
• Indoor climbing wall
• Weight training centre
• 'The Den' — a student café that doubles as a social hub for athletic events

Academic Spaces:

• Flexible learning studios designed for collaborative inquiry
• Library and Media Centre
• After-School Study Centre

Arts and Technology:

• Large performance theatre
• Science laboratories
• Digital graphics suite
• Music and art studios
• Makerspace — for design thinking, prototyping, and STEM projects

Dining:

• Spacious cafeteria with hot and cold meal service, indoor and outdoor seating

Campus Atmosphere

Visitors and families consistently describe ZIS as having a relaxed, open, and intellectually stimulating atmosphere. There is no school uniform, and the school's casual dress code reflects a culture that values creativity and individuality. The combination of outstanding facilities, small class sizes, and a non-hierarchical approach to learning creates an environment where students are visible, known, and supported.

A Philosophy Built on Curiosity and Community

Zurich International School's educational philosophy is captured in its mission: "We surface and inspire each learner's curiosity, critical thinking, and high expectations for their learning so that they positively impact their family, community and the world." This statement is not merely aspirational—it shapes every dimension of school life, from classroom design to co-curricular programming.

The IB Continuum as a Through-Line

ZIS offers the complete International Baccalaureate continuum:

• Primary Years Programme (PYP) for Early Childhood and Lower School (ages 3–10)
• Middle Years Programme (MYP) for Grades 6–10
• Diploma Programme (DP) for Grades 11–12

This vertical alignment means that a student joining ZIS in Preschool and staying through graduation experiences 15 years of conceptually coherent, inquiry-based education. There is no disruptive shift in pedagogy at the secondary transition—skills such as reflection, research, and self-management are built progressively across all three programmes.

Bilingual Innovation

Distinctively, ZIS layers a German–English bilingual pathway onto the IB framework. Starting in Kindergarten and expanding through Middle School (and now into Upper School), this programme immerses students in German-medium instruction alongside English, producing genuinely bilingual graduates. In a region where German is the civic language, this is both a practical and cultural asset. The bilingual pathway is expanding to Grade 9, reflecting growing family demand and ZIS's strategic commitment to multiliteracy.

Four Core Values

ZIS explicitly names four values that guide its community:

• Respect — for self, others, and the environment
• Humility — approaching learning with openness
• Courage — taking intellectual and personal risks
• Joy — finding meaning and delight in learning

These values are woven into advisory systems, community meetings, and student leadership programmes, ensuring they move beyond poster-level aspiration into daily practice.

Assessment and Learning Design

Rather than high-stakes standardised testing as the primary driver, ZIS assessment follows IB criteria—project-based, portfolio-driven, and internally and externally moderated. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning goals, and teachers act as facilitators rather than transmitters of information. This approach is reflected in the school's average IB DP score of 35.0 (2025) against a world average of approximately 30, and a 97.8% pass rate.