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OUR HISTORY
The origins of SGIS can be traced back to October 1966 at the second Autumn Conference of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS). Held in Lugano at Villa Negroni, the home of the American School in Switzerland (TASIS), ECIS had been founded the previous year following a meeting at the College du Leman (CDL) in March 1965.
Following the Lugano conference, conversations continued through 1967 and 1968 on the idea of linking international schools in Switzerland. Eventually, a working party met at Institut Le Rosey, Rolle, in the spring of 1969, with the mandate of drawing up a set of statutes. The working party was comprised of Brian Bissell (Commonwealth American School, Lausanne); Terry Gale (CDL); Mike Hope (Lycée des Nations) and the Headmaster of the host school, Malcolm Whitehead.
The first formal gathering of lectures and workshops, chaired by Brian Bissell, took place at the English Speaking School of Berne (now the International School of Berne), in October 1969, with forty delegates attending.
In 1989 a two-day conference was held in Thun, with the renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall, as the keynote speaker. This was deemed such a success, that an annual two-day conference has been held each year ever since, attracting around three hundred educators from the member schools.
Since its founding, SGIS has continued to provide support for Swiss international schools through professional development and groups, annual events, and sports, arts and music programs.