Do School Differently.

For over 20 years, WABE e.V. has established a reputation as an innovator in quality, early childhood care and education. Since its founding, WABE has attracted over 4.000 children and 900 employees to more than 30 locations across Germany and abroad. In their work, WABE has developed a compelling and successful model not only for teaching and caring for children, but also for developing their staff. As the board members of WABE looked at their mission and vision of life-long learning, one clear fact rose to the surface—after many wonderful years of learning and relationship building, all of the children left the innovative WABE pedagogical programmes and entered into traditional schools. What would it look like to start a school that carried on the WABE vision? Thus, the seed for WABE International School was planted.

In 2014, WABE began the process of building a bridge between their early-childhood concept and the world of primary and secondary education. Early on, it was clear that two main trends in education were a close fit for the WABE model: Project-Based Learning and Social-Emotional Learning, and they began to assemble a team of educators that could bring this vision to life. In 2015, the planning for the school began in earnest, and construction began at our location here in Pinneberg. Initially called “International School Campus”, the school opened for its first year in September of 2016, receiving accreditation from the Ministry of Education in Schleswig-Holstein. The first day of school began with 13 eager students, and 10 brave families.

The school received accreditation as an International Baccalaureate World School in 2019, and graduated its first IB Diploma Programme students in June of 2021. The school has now grown to 240 students that represent 47 different nationalities around the world. In June of 2022, the school officially adopted its current name, “WABE International School”, symbolizing its embodiment of the original desire to bring the WABE pedagogical approach into another important stage of life-long learning.

WABE e.V. remains active in supporting the school’s growth and operations. The WABE International School board is comprised of the two WABE CEOs and another member of their board. WABE has played a vital role in the financial support of the school, investing significant capital and organizational resources to support the school’s founding and growth. Both the guidance and financial support from the WABE organization continue to be a generous and constructive backbone to the school’s development, for which the entire WABE International School community is immensely grateful.