Frankfurt - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability of international schools? What has been your general experience with them, if any?
There are several for elementary aged children.This post is difficult for parents with children under the age of 5. The community association preschool was expensive and not reliable while we were at post. - Dec 2024
The schools are great, except if your kid has any kind of special need, then off to boarding school they go. The schools around here will not deal with any kind of special need. - Jun 2024
Many international schools to choose from, however if you have a child that needs even minimal accomodations I would not consider this post. - Oct 2022
FIS is good but it's a long commute for the kids. I've heard many of the younger kids moan about the 40-50 minute commute. Other schools with instruction in English are available, but I am not sure of their quality. - Oct 2021
There are a few choices. FIS is by far most popular with consulate families. We had mostly positive experiences in the upper school. However, at the Primary School we felt like the teachers were too traditional and not really IB PYP teachers. It was not great for our kid. The whole Primary School staff seems to have been there forever and are entrenched in their own habits. - Sep 2020
You have several schools to choose from. Frankfurt International school, International school of Frankfurt, Metropolitan school, a french school and of course you can go to German schools. Most kids go to FIS. Most are IB-based. However look around and see what may fit best for you. Many of these schools do require a laptop or tablet of some sort. - Mar 2020
Many terrific options. - Mar 2020
Most kids go to Frankfurt International School, one of the seven founding schools of the IB program. It was a good choice, with a strong athletics program and great facilities. The quality of teaching was uneven, in our experience, but not so much so as to downgrade the schools. There are numerous other choices in Frankfurt and talking to other parents all seemed satisfied with their experience as well, so you shouldn't feel tied to FIS. There is an opportunity to attended the DoD schools, but there are usually limited spaces available, so check early. - Feb 2020
Our experience with the preschool on the compound has been great. One of the highlights of the tour. We've heard that the other schools are good but have no experience. This is generally considered one of the best post in the foreign service for families with school age kids. - Sep 2019
There are many international schools in Frankfurt. Our experience with FIS was very good. - Apr 2019
There are multiple international schools and I heard they are excellent. - Jan 2017
Several options, but I don't have direct experience. - Aug 2016
I have no experience with them but hear that they are excellent. - Feb 2016
Many high quality schools. DoD children must attend the DoD school in Wiesbaden. Most of the children attend Frankfurt International School, which has campuses in Oberursel and Wiesbaden. We have had a great experience at the Oberursel campus. Many children attend International School of Frankfurt and a growing number are also attending Metropolitan School of Frankfurt. There are also children enrolled in the German Public Schools. - Dec 2015
My kids are at the Frankfurt International School which we have liked. Good education but not much school spirit so if they are athletes, as mine are...they may be disappointed in the lack of school spirit. They play other schools in Europe which is great fun for them and the tournaments are a blast. I hear that FIS has a fantastic Drama and Music program as well. One word of warning, NONE of the International Schools in Frankfurt will accept ANY LEVEL of special needs! DO NOT come here with a Special Needs Child unless you and your kid are fluent in German. Seriously. You will be up a creek without a paddle as the DOD school no longer accepts Consulate kids due to over-subscription of military families and construction restraints on space. - Mar 2014
No personal experience. Most kids go to FIS (Frankfurt International School).Recently some kids have gone to Stradhoff (Sp?), and from what I hear it's not really an international school,but more of a school for rich German kids with an international curriculum. It seems that it may be better for younger students, and not as good for teenagers. There is always the Department of Defense school in Wiesbaden, which is great for students who excel in sports, but terrible in academics. - Oct 2011
My oldest child went to ISF and we were very unhappy with the administration. - Jul 2008
Plenty, FIS and ISF are the most utlized schools, FIS is more project-based with lots of extra curricular activities, ISF more testing-based. DODDS can accomodate students, less lately due to concentration of military employees around Wiesbaden. There aren't any special needs options. There is a new school founded the past year, the Metropolitan School which is just as good as FIS or ISF and much closer to the compound. - Feb 2008
There are two international schools and the DODDs school -all are about 30 minutes away. Our kids attended FIS, a fine school for academically inclined kids (with no learning problems). It is not an American school (IB). If your child is not getting many A's in his/her present school (especially high school), s/he might struggle a little at FIS. If you're very sensitive to many European's anti-American feelings, you might want to choose another school (not overt, but present, mostly among some adults). We love the zero tolerance for drugs and weapons, and the excellent attitude regarding parent involovement. - Jan 2008
