Mission & Profile

Mission and Guiding Principles

Within the rich cultural context of Austria, AIS Vienna

  • Nurtures an inclusive learning community
    • In partnership with families, we support healthy social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development.
    • We differentiate instruction to accommodate diverse interests and needs.
    • We cultivate active and creative students.
  • Challenges students to strive for personal excellence and to explore their passions
    • We balance an academically engaging program with co-curricular opportunities to empower students for success now and beyond AIS.
    • We motivate students to explore new and existing passions through guidance and opportunities.
  • Fosters respect through compassion for others and our world
    • We encourage empathy, honesty and kindness towards others.
    • We embrace diverse values and perspectives with an aim to act with an open mind.
    • We strive to have a positive impact on others and our environment


Core Values

NURTURE | INCLUDE | CHALLENGE | RESPECT


AIS Environmental Ethics Statement and Goals

The AIS community is committed to developing an environmentally friendly school by:

  • raising environmental awareness
  • making environmentally friendly decisions
  • including environmental action and education in our daily routine
  • supporting the environmental policies of Austria

Students, teachers and staff can make progress toward these goals by:

  • using the existing recycling bins appropriately
  • reducing paper usage by printing on both sides, using half sheets or working digitally if possible
  • reducing electrical use by turning off lights, Smart Boards and computers when not in use
  • reducing our use of plastic bottles and bags
  • reminding one another to conserve our resources


Students

AIS serves some eight hundred students from sixty countries, with about half of the total American or Austrian. The school is divided into three divisions -- Elementary (pre-kindergarten to grade five), Middle (grades six, seven, and eight), and High School (grades nine to twelve). The typical class has twenty students, with many language classes considerably smaller.

Because of the international and transient character of our student body, the average stay at AIS is four years, with approximately 200 new students admitted each year. Many students, however, spend eight years or longer with us. Our Parent-Teacher Forum makes a great effort to help new families adjust to a new environment.

Our international parent community is predominantly affiliated with embassies, international organizations, and international corporations. Our local parents tend to work in private businesses or professions such as medicine and law.

Faculty

The core of excellence at AIS is the talented faculty and administration. Each of the three academic divisions is headed by a trained and experienced principal. In addition, the Senior Leadership Team includes the School Director, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, the Director of Athletics, Activities, and Events, the Director of Technology, the Director of Admissions, Director of Development, Director of Human Resources and Business Manager. There are also trained and experienced counselors in each of the three divisions, resource staff, and librarians for the Elementary and Secondary schools. A full-time nurse practitioner oversees the school’s health unit.

The AIS Faculty numbers over 100 individuals. More than 80% of our teachers hold advanced degrees, with several having earned doctorates. A substantial majority are U.S. citizens, but the school does have teachers of other nationalities, including faculty from Europe, Canada, the Middle East, the Far East, and South America. The teachers at AIS are dedicated professionals with a commitment to on-going development, as demonstrated by frequent attendance at regional and international conferences, IB training, and subject-specific workshops.

AIS Staff range in age from 24-65, with an average and median age of about 46. The average stay of a staff member at AIS is over ten years, which greatly enhances the school’s stability and continuity.

Facilities

Visit our online Campus Map to take a self-guided tour.

AIS is located in the Neustift-am-Walde area of Vienna, adjacent to the famous Vienna Woods, and provides an instructional setting in the midst of the physical beauty of the surrounding hills, forest, and countryside. On our 10-acre (4 hectare) premises there are seven interconnected buildings housing Elementary, Middle, and High Schools.

Overall, there are more than 70 classrooms, seven science labs, art studios, music rooms, two libraries, a theatre, two gyms, a cafeteria, health unit, and a separate sports hall (which houses three indoor tennis courts or two basketball courts or ten badminton courts). There are various offices for counseling, the International Baccalaureate program, division offices, technology, and faculty departments. The exterior facilities include a soccer field, a running track, an elementary playground, an outdoor tennis court, and an outdoor amphitheatre.

The land for the school was bought by the U.S. government in the late 1950s, using U.S. government funds obtained through the Marshall Plan, and the school occupies the premises in perpetuity. The school is built along a sloping hillside, making for many different levels and stairs. Because of this, AIS is not easily accessed by a student or parent with physical challenges.

AIS has approximately 880+ personal computers. Through our 1:1 laptop program, which will continue to expand, all students in grades five through 12 already have a take-home personal computer. All classrooms have ceiling-mounted video projectors and interactive whiteboards -- touch-sensitive screens that replace the traditional chalkboard and facilitate digital manipulation of images and text.

At AIS computers are seen as a necessary tool for teaching and learning.