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History of Prinseschool and IST |
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Prinseschool was founded in 1911 and given its name after Prince Hendrik of The Netherlands (1876-1934). At that time it was a primary school for children aged from 6–12. Historical events, including the first and second world wars, didn't allow the school to grow. Nevertheless, the school continued to provide high quality education for many generations.
In 1985 the Prinseschool, like all Dutch schools, was expanded to include an infants department (ages 4–5). The start of a new school management team in 2000 brought significant changes to the school's organization.
The Prinseschool added bilingual education to its curriculum, to be concluded by the so called Anglia exams. In 2001 an International Department for Dutch students was launched. Under the management of Bert Jansen as Principal, both the population and reputation of the Prinseschool have grown considerably.
To cope with the increasing growth in pupil numbers, a new extended building has been added. Since 2007 Prinseschool has operated in two locations: Prinsestraat and Staringstraat.
Because of its international profile, Prinseschool applied for the membership of the Dutch International Primary Schools in 2007. With strong support of the school board- Consent and the SIO Twente charity the project of the start-up of an International School Twente was launched in the academic year 2007/2008.
Approval by the Dutch ministry of education to start an international school was granted in March 2008. With this approval IST has become one of 11 state funded international primary schools spread over The Netherlands. It will join the DIS - Dutch International Schools organization.
Start-up fundings were granted by the province of Overijssel, the city of Enschede, the Twente region and (through SIO Twente) by companies as Grolsch breweries, Thales, Sensata and others.
During the academic year 2007/2008 the start-up project was managed by a project manager of a consultancy agency, E&S Advies en Management.
International School Twente has opened its doors on August 25th 2008.
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