Bilingual Learning
At Schloss Krumbach International School, students benefit from a bilingual learning environment, with Middle School classes taught in both English and German, while High School transitions primarily to English.
Learning German is central to connecting students with Austrian culture and enhancing future opportunities at German-speaking universities. Throughout the Middle School, German is woven naturally into courses and activities, supporting immersive language development.
For students without prior German experience, we provide personalized support, ensuring they gain confidence and proficiency. The practice of language learning fosters skills that help students easily pick up additional languages, broadening their linguistic abilities.
Educational Programmes
Our diverse educational programs cater to students at Grades 7 to 12, equipping them with a broad academic foundation and skills to grow into well-educated thoughtful young leaders.
Schloss Krumbach International School’s graduates are equally comfortable conducting lab experiments, writing history essays, explaining the key features of the Italian Renaissance paintings, or twirling around to the sounds of waltz or tango.
The Middle School program is bilingual (some classes taught in English and some in German) and follows a blend of our own curriculum with the Austrian educational system, offering a well-rounded differentiated selection of humanities, sciences, and arts classes. All the disciplines are taught in-depth, helping students gain a foundational knowledge that supports informed decisions for further studies in the High School.
Throughout the High School, which is English-taught, students start with the Pre-Diploma Grade 10, when they choose their subjects for IB DP or Cambridge International A-Levels, the two diploma venues offered in Grades 11-12.
Middle School
Grades 7-9
Taught in English and German
Our Middle School program provides a bilingual learning experience that incorporates both our unique curriculum and elements of the Austrian educational framework. Students are exposed to a comprehensive list of subjects, including languages, humanities, sciences, and the arts, developing a broad understanding across fields. We have no early grade specialization but rather strive to make our students educated in all the core subjects, to empower them to make an informed choice in Grade 10.
Sciences are taught as individual disciplines, encouraging students to explore the distinct fields of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. There is also a separation of language acquisition and literature for both English and German languages.
This curriculum ensures that students gain foundational knowledge across subjects, empowering them to make well-informed academic choices as they progress, and preparing them for the challenges of the IB DP Programme.
Subjects:
- English Language Acquisition
- English Literature
- German Language Acquisition
- Geography
- Religion / Ethics
- Art History
- German Literature
- Additional Language
- Biology
- Mathematics
- Theory of Music
- Physical Education
- Chemistry
- Physics
- History
- Computer Science
- Visual Arts
High School
Grades 10-12
Taught in English
Pre-Diploma Grade
Our Middle School program provides a bilingual learning experience that incorporates both our unique curriculum and elements of the Austrian educational framework. Students are exposed to a comprehensive list of subjects, including languages, humanities, sciences, and the arts, developing a broad understanding across fields. We have no early grade specialization but rather strive to make our students educated in all the core subjects, to empower them to make an informed choice in Grade 10.
Sciences are taught as individual disciplines, encouraging students to explore the distinct fields of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. There is also a separation of language acquisition and literature for both English and German languages.
This curriculum ensures that students gain foundational knowledge across subjects, empowering them to make well-informed academic choices as they progress, and preparing them for the challenges of the IB DP Programme.
IB DP
Schloss Krumbach International School is an accredited IB World School offering IB Diploma, a rigorous, globally recognized curriculum that prepares students for top universities worldwide. With a well-structured curriculum covering six subject groups, the IB DP encourages critical thinking and global awareness.
Core components include the Extended Essay (EE), Theory of Knowledge (TOK), and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS), all of which foster intellectual curiosity and a well-rounded skill set. Graduates of the IB DP are well-regarded by universities for their analytical abilities, research skills and commitment to learning.
IGCSE
Schloss Krumbach International School is an accredited Cambridge International Education School offering IGCSE and Advanced Level (A- Level Diploma), a widely recognised academic qualification that enables students to specialize in subjects aligned with their career goals and university aspirations. Through a rigorous curriculum, our students engage deeply in their chosen fields, developing critical thinking and independent learning skills.
A-Level graduates from our school are exceptionally well-prepared for university, valued for their expertise and analytical abilities.
We take pride in nurturing confident, knowledgeable individuals who are ready to excel in higher education and beyond.
Student Profile
To succeed on the learning path, from a young age on, students need to work on gaining knowledge, skills and abilities through challenging and consistent intellectual labor, vital and necessary for development of the brain, cognitive connections and neural networks.
This is exactly what our school delivers in the form of a well-rounded academic experience.
SKIS students:
- write a lot by hand so that the relevant hemisphere of the brain develops
- memorize axioms and formulas for logical thinking to emerge
- learn by heart poems, dates, and to definitions, enabling the transformation of short-term memory into long-term knowledge
- read classical literature and watch high-quality movies to nurture imaginative thinking, excellent vocabulary and educated speech
- practice conscious and prepared public speaking to gain oratory skills
- study, practice, and perceive classical art, music, and dance to encourage informed and consistent creativity
Our students are taught to remain critical and ethical thinkers at the times of fake news, click thinking, and information overdose.
Due to the no-gadget policy, SKIS protects its students from the flows of information clogging their consciousness, forming click thinking, damaging cognitive processes and often irrevocably hindering abilities of memorisation and focus.
Due to a rich academic curriculum, SKIS provides them with access to quality scientific and scholarly information, teaches them how to use this information, to analyze it, and to extract answers to the questions posed.
Our students are well-read, principled, and intelligent. They speak up about what they know and know what they are talking about.
At Schloss Krumbach International School, artistic development is integral to our curriculum, with regular art workshops that encourage creativity and self-expression. Students learn the fundamentals of drawing and explore art history, enabling them to appreciate various artistic movements and styles. Our curriculum distinguishes between visual arts and art history, ensuring that students gain a comprehensive understanding of both disciplines and an insight into the work of different artists.
Regular student exhibitions provide students with opportunities to showcase their work, while museum visits inspire and deepen their appreciation for art. This part of the school life is a mandatory educational feature - all of our students discover an artist in themselves!
Reading is a cornerstone of the educational experience at SKIS, both in terms of assignments integrated across all subjects to enhance comprehension and critical thinking and thanks to the culture of reading on the weekends and many libraries on campus.
Our interdisciplinary approach links literature with other fields, enriching students’ understanding of the book as a medium of knowledge accumulation and encouraging a holistic view of knowledge. We dedicate reading hours on weekends to cultivate a love for literature and ensure that students engage deeply with texts.
In addition, our curriculum distinguishes between language acquisition and literary study, providing students with the tools they need to excel in both areas and become articulate, informed communicators.
We believe that homework is essential to reinforcing knowledge and developing a disciplined approach to learning. Regular assignments help students deepen their understanding, while supervised sessions provide structured support to maximize effectiveness. Transparent communication keeps parents actively informed, with detailed reports offering insights into each child’s progress. Additionally, our custom progress tracker helps monitor development closely, allowing for timely adjustments and targeted support. Through consistent homework and feedback, students gain the skills and habits that drive their academic success and build lifelong learning habits.
We teach kindness and manners as essential components of our school culture. Schloss Krumbach International School raises ladies and gentlemen, in the best possible meaning of these words. Through checks and balances provided by student leadership and teacher engagement, we actively promote respectful attitude to any member of the school community. We ensure that all students adhere to our standards of conduct, which prohibits swearing and bullying, and jointly foster an environment where everyone feels valued.
Our school emphasizes the importance of peer-to-peer support, fostering a community where students learn from and support one another. Student leadership plays a central role, with students taking on responsibilities that strengthen their sense of accountability and belonging. In our boarding program, we encourage older students to mentor and supervise younger ones, building meaningful connections and a supportive network. This approach not only strengthens social bonds but also develops valuable skills in empathy, collaboration, and responsibility.
Learning Support
At Schloss Krumbach International School, we do take productivity rather seriously though. As a boarding school, we strive to teach our students not only academic subject knowledge and languages but also life skills, including such a vital competence as time management.
Through a range of activities, from student leadership and homework supervision to day planning and revision organization, SKIS students encounter, practice, and master the art of structuring the time, tasks and deadlines in the most effective manner.
We practice high-quality individualized education and a student-oriented approach, both in class and beyond. One of our important inventions is the concept of supervised homework, through which we ensure a continuous learning curve beyond the lesson hours.
At SKIS, we believe that, to a large extent, it is through individual studies and responsible attitude to homework, that students grow to understand that their future and their success is always in their own hands. Yes, there can be plenty of support from the outside, but only one’s hard work, persistence, and commitment can transform these benefits into gains.
Having such a mindset is ultimately what turns the talented ones into the ones who succeed, and that is what we teach at SKIS.
Progress Tracking
We monitor progress closely, with small class sizes allowing for differentiated learning and individualized attention. Parents are valued partners in this journey, and students gain practical experience through real-life projects, such as open days, school musicals, peer tutoring, and student-led initiatives like the school newspaper.
Creative Learning
Creative and indirect learning activities—such as plays, trips, and student leadership opportunities—help reinforce classroom knowledge in meaningful, hands-on ways, making SKIS a dynamic environment where students actively engage with their learning journey. Through this structured yet flexible approach, students not only master academics but also develop a balanced, well-rounded skill set essential for future success.
Interdisciplinary Linkages
We believe in a combination of academic quality, creative modes of learning, and multicultural curriculum, in a safe English speaking environment of a private European school. Mastering all the nuances of the literature language – English, German, or a mother tongue – is no easy feat, hence our commitment to a creative application of the concepts and vocabulary learned in class.
To facilitate the task we are carefully mixing the methods of assessment, both in the classroom, on co-curricular activities, and beyond. This means that not only do students spend carefully allocated class hours on covering various literature pieces and text types in detail and then test their knowledge against formal checks such as exams, essays, orals, etc, but they also revise the learned concepts and vocabulary through a creative format of plays and drama.
Supervised Homework
This sense of a very individualized student-focused approach is evident in many policies of the school, such as for example, the idea of supervised homework time. What does this mean? In accordance with a specially designed schedule, all of the teachers are assigned a supervised homework duty every week.
Basically, on-duty teachers stay at school after the end of the classes and spend time with the students at the classrooms to respond to any questions students might have. In a way, this concept is a form of an after-school program, an extra learning mode because students do their homework with access to teachers, even beyond the school day time.
Our Teachers
The academic excellence at Schloss Krumbach rests on the expertise, talent, enthusiasm, and drive of our teaching staff. Our teachers are very approachable and eager to share their ideas with our students and community.
We also have an outdoor knowledge policy, which means regularly inviting visiting experts, professors, and practitioners from different fields to deliver engaging courses and lectures that challenge and inspire our students, broaden their horizons, and enable productive discussions and networking opportunities.
Schloss Krumbach International School adheres to the highest academic quality standards through the use of our own progress tracking system, regular reports to the parents, student leadership meetings, peer-to-peer cooperation, and homework supervision time.
Assessment
Schloss Krumbach International School recognizes that teaching and learning, and the assessment of that learning, are fundamentally interdependent.
Our teaching staff recognise and accept that students:
Have different learning styles
Should receive feedback that is objective and constructive
Perform differently according to the context of learning
See self-assessment and peer assessment as a natural part of the learning process
Need to be told about what they have achieved and areas for improvement in the learning process
Have different cultural experiences, expectations and needs
Throughout the curriculum and instructional process, we are guided by the following principles:
- Assessment is designed by teachers to incorporate a variety of methods and to be relevant as well as motivating for students.
- Assessment is criterion-referenced using the guidelines set down by the IBO and Cambridge International Education and is made clear to students by teachers before coursework begins.
Academic progress
While the school creates the learning environment and provides all the support necessary for academic progress and success, the student at Schloss Krumbach International School is expected to maintain academic progress and strive for outstanding work each and every day.
A grade of 4 in the final term Grade report at least in one of the subjects, requires the intervention of the School’s Pedagogical Council. In this case, the question of the possibility of continuing studying at the school is decided in each case individually.
A grade of 3 or lower in any subject in the final term Grade report demonstrates that the academic requirements have not been met. Failure to meet the academic requirements may lead to an academic expulsion.
Under these circumstances on a case by case basis further steps with a student not meeting our academic requirements will be determined by the school. The School may grant additional opportunities to improve a failing grade by sitting for an extra exam in a failed subject.
University Counseling
At Schloss Krumbach International School, we believe a student’s school years should be a time when they identify passions that can lead to a future profession. The school’s teachers and staff do their best to help students find their professional calling.
After graduating from Schloss Krumbach, students may apply to universities around the world. The school has a team of university counselors to help students navigate the university application process.
Making sure our students make it to the university of their dreams is one of our key priorities as a school, and the Career Counseling Service is always available to provide guidance and support.
OPEN GATES Forum
Open Gates brings together experts from diverse fields—education, business, politics, and international security—to share their experiences and ideas. This unique initiative allows students to engage in meaningful dialogue with thought leaders, gain real-world insights, and explore potential career paths.
By connecting with inspiring professionals, students broaden their perspectives and discover the many opportunities that await them beyond SKIS.
