What’s in a name? Quite a lot, actually!

Names are one of the foundational characteristics of the human experience. Names carry meaning, history, and identity. The act of giving something a name, whether it’s a person or an organization, is an act of great responsibility. In the case of organizations, it is important to reflect on its essential identity: why was this organization founded and what is it trying to accomplish in the world?

Its name should be capable of capturing the answers to these questions and clearly position the organization within its market. As we reflected on our original name, “International School Campus”, we believed that it did not clearly present our purpose and mission to the world.

Our new name, WABE International School, more clearly captures our identity, purpose, and history and enables us to tell the story we want about who we are.

“ISC”, as it was affectionately known, grew out of an idea for starting something new. The original idea for an international school with a progressive education came from the pedagogical CEO of WABE e.V., Ms. Gabriele Gramann.

As an independent operator of kindergartens based in Hamburg, Germany, WABE currently has over 30 locations, 900+ employees, and 4500+ children in their care. They have decades of experience in implementing their innovative “Open Pedagogy of Mindfulness” as well as training their educators their model.

The pedagogical model behind “Do School Differently” shares a common DNA with the WABE educational model. In WABE kindergartens, the children are given control over their learning, with a wide array of learning experiences, resources, and activities available to them.

The educators are tasked with observing what the children want to learn and explore and responding to the child with support, guidance, and encouragement.

At WABE International School, we believe in the same concepts. We bring our WABE pedagogical DNA into the international school curriculum and provide students a genuine opportunity to “Do School Differently.”

Our educational model is not the only DNA that we have inherited from WABE e.V. The launch of a new, modern, and well-resourced international school in a major metropolitan area such as Hamburg is a significant financial investment.

WABE e.V. has committed substantial financial resources to the start of our international school, ensuring that the building, resources, and the teachers and staff are of the highest quality.

As we approached our 5th birthday, we spent time as a team reflecting on who we were, what we had accomplished, and what we wanted to do in the future. In this moment, it also became clear to us that we wanted our name to reflect this identity and mission.

We approached WABE e.V. with the request to formally adopt their name in our own, and they warmly agreed.

While the new name change is taking a bit of adjustment in our day-to-day practice, we now have a name that we can fully embrace as reflective of who we are and what we want to do in the world. We look forward to serving the Hamburg metropolitan region for decades to come as “WABE International School.”