Association of the International School Basel (AISB) and Outreach Group

ISB was founded in 1979 as an association. In 1999, ISB became a company limited by shares, the International School of the Basel Region AG (ISBR AG) in order to raise funds for a purpose-built school for all the students. Within this shareholding company, AISB became a shareholder to incorporate the interest of parents and staff and holds 41% of the shares. As a major shareholder, the Association has the right to propose at least 2 members to the Board of the ISBR AG. Other shareholders are many corporations located in the Basel area.

As a “Verein” under Swiss law, its statutes state that: “The AISB shall be a charitable, non-profit-making association whose purpose is to foster the sociability, the communication and the mutual comprehension among the parents or legal guardians of children educated at the ISBR, and its educational and business support staff. The association shall encourage the furtherance of an education which promotes learning, culture, international understanding and develops ideals of respect and tolerance for people of all nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds.”

For this purpose, part of the Association’s annual operating income finances activities and projects, which are linked to valuable educational programs for ISB students. These projects are not traditionally included in the school’s budget and can take place outside the ISB Campus. These AISB supported activities and projects enrich the programs taught from Pre-School to Grade 12.

AISB comprises an elected group of parent volunteers. It supports the governance of the School through its:

Shareholder Representative
The Association Committee elects a member to represent its shareholding at any Annual General Meeting or other meetings of the shareholders of the ISBR AG.
Membership on the ISBR AG Board of Directors
The Association currently has 4 seats on the school’s Board of Directors. These Board members are elected by the AISB members to a 3-year term of office.
Nomination Committee
When there is a need for a new AISB Board member to be elected, the Nomination Committee establishes the principles for nomination, announces a request for candidates and prepares the candidates for the election. This Committee also oversees the actual election process.

AISB fosters a close link between the School and the local communities through its Outreach Group which was set up by the Association Committee in 2005.

Outreach Group
Outreach Group
ISB strives to foster closer ties with the local communities. Since May 2005, AISB with the support of the School Director formed the Outreach Group (OG). Today, OG is dedicated to developing opportunities for increasing positive interaction between the students, parents, staff and local communities. OG also supports the High School’s CAS and Community and Services programs in locating more external placements for students.
Besides the Communications Officer, OG has 10 parent volunteers and 4 staff members representing Pre-School, Junior School, and Senior School. The Parents' Association designates a member to provide the link to this school organization. The Group meets regularly about once every 6 weeks, often with the participation of the School Director.
Program Activities
In addition to the ongoing external placement search efforts for our Senior School students, other activites have included:
- Facilitating pen pal activity between students at ISB Grade 5 German class and Grade 5 class at primary school in Aesch.
- Setting up a link with Aesch Gemeinde‘s charity in Burkino Faso. The Aesch mayor visits Grade 3 on their sponsored fast and explains how the sponsored money will be used.
- Facilitated guest speaker from BLT to speak with Grades 3-5 students about tram safety, rules and behaviour.
A major focus of the group has been the development of an external resources database (Outreach Database) to support the teaching staff. The primary aims of the on-line database are to collect information regarding school field trips and to store contact information for possible CAS and C&S activities. Any staff member can access it via Outlook whilst database updates are made by group members.
In 2009 the group expanded its efforts to support parents’ integration into the local community by setting up the Local Events Calendar giving all a comprehensive overview of events in the Basel area from concerts, discussion forums, and theatre performances to weekend trips for numerous special occasions in the area.