AICS

Amsterdam International Community School: “Bringing the school out into the world and the world into the school”

After years of development, the Amsterdam International Community School (AICS) is finally ‘home’ in their new building on Arent Janszoon Ernststraat. Transparency, natural light and wood accents flow throughout the entire space and create a warm, safe and open feeling for everyone inhabiting and visiting the school. Head of Community Relations, Jessica Morriss, and Leader of Operations, Vincent Koerse, are enthusiastic about their pioneering role in raising the standard of international education in the Netherlands.

Flexibility and adaptability are an important part of the four accredited International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes AICS offers. When families relocate to another country, their children can seamlessly continue their education, because the IB programme is internationally recognized. Another valuable aspect, Jessica notes, is that the school now offers the CP and DP for secondary school students. “The fully accredited IB is enormously important for the school on several levels. Firstly, for the school itself to attract students and parents from all over the world and thus develop a strong position in international education. Secondly, it is very important for our students to be able to complete the full IB continuum. If you look at the IB programme, it’s not just about the theoretical aspects of education but also very much about the holistic approach of the IB philosophy, all the way through from the ages of four to eighteen.’’ Vincent adds: “Offering all flavours of the IB was only possible with a certain amount of growth, and that’s why it is an amazing thing to be able to continue this journey and hopefully help other international schools to get on board with us. The Dutch government sees the need to offer affordable education for expats in Amsterdam and the Netherlands.”

Community partnerships The big move to a new location and changes in the leadership team led up to the new role of Head of Community Relations. Jessica: “The purpose of my role is to bring the school out into the world and to bring the world into the school. We have a very active and supportive parent body – the AICS Parent Society (APS) – through whom we hope

“Bringing the school out into the world and the world into the school”

to develop opportunities to offer training or learn skills from one another, as well as the obvious valuable support they offer to school events and fundraising. Additionally, we are part of a Zuidas educators’ group that was set up by Green Business Club Zuidas. This includes the AICS, VU Amsterdam, the ROC, and Rietveld Academy. Recently, we held our first in-person meeting, in which we explored ideas about sustainability with a view to setting up a collaborative project next academic year. In addition, I am working on creating new partnerships with VU Amsterdam and the Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam children’s choir, and on setting up a primary school orchestra, and looking at possible further connections that may arise from these partnerships.” AICS’s collaboration with the Municipality of Amsterdam and Green Business Club Zuidas to develop a community garden in a temporarily vacant plot between the Van der Valk Hotel and EMA is already a great success.

Sandcastle Campus in Amsterdam-Zuidoost Whilst settling into the new campus in Zuidas, plans to expand further are continuing with an exciting development taking place in Amsterdam-Zuidoost. AICS SouthEast is currently housed in a temporary site on Darlingstraat. Vincent has been leading both building projects, as well as being involved in various capacities at the school. “The first three towers of the Sandcastle building – the former ING office building – are being converted for our new International School Campus. We are in the transformation process now, so we hope to repurpose this first municipal building in the area and plan to relocate there in the summer of 2023. At that point the AICS will be more or less at our maximum capacity to grow and accommodate as many students and families as possible. It is exciting to go to Zuidoost, which is a distinctive district in the city of Amsterdam with huge potential, so we are proud to be a part of that.”

AICS - South Campus Arent Janszoon Ernststraat 1179 1081 HL Amsterdam +31 (0)20 577 12 40 info@aics.espritscholen.nl aics.espritscholen.nl