This year, our sixth graders spent three starry nights and four sunny days at Camp Meriwether on the spectacular Oregon Coast. The trip had two purposes: to study the Pacific Northwest coast environment alongside students from other schools, and to stretch their comfort zones by spending time away from family and home. They did an amazing job at both, especially in taking care of each other…

If you have ever stood near our gym during PE, you have probably heard Mimoza before you saw her: the laughter, the cheering, the energy of a class that has been waiting all day to move. Her students will tell you, without hesitation, that PE is the best part of their day. But behind the whistle and Mimoza’s warm smile is a story that spans two continents, two languages, and a lifetime in sport…

One of the things that makes our school special is that almost all of our teachers have come here from other parts of the world, bringing their own languages, cultures, and stories with them. This week, we sat down with Zhong Laoshi, our 1st grade Chinese teacher, to learn more about her journey from a small town in China to our classroom.

If you walk onto the campus of the German International School, the first thing you'll notice is a giant pretzel. It's not a decoration. It's a philosophy.

The pretzel—twisted, humble, made from nothing but salt, flour, and water, is our Roter Faden, the "red thread" that runs through everything we do. And it points to three things that set the German International School apart from a typical independent school.

Soren Little and I met up online while he was in Boston for a VLDB conference. "Computer science people remain ever so creative when it comes to naming their conferences," he joked…

At the start of every school year, the big question is always, What’s the story of the pretzel? 

Okay, so here is the story of the Pretzel…

The phrase “Roter Faden” (red thread) is a German idiom that refers to a guiding principle that runs through something. Its origin is credited to Goethe, the famous German writer…