German International School of Dallas, Farmers Branch TX

I LOVE the German International School of Dallas. My children have attended the school since 2017. My son is now a 3rd grader while my daughter is in kindergarten. They speak beautiful German, without accent, because of the German school. More importantly, they are following the Bavarian curriculum so that-should we leave for Germany or another certified German institution-they can seamlessly continue their German elementary or high school education and (ideally) achieve their Abitur.

These are important considerations, yet the most important factor why we have entrusted our children to this school since they were toddlers is because the school genuinely imparts a small school environment with love and individualized attention.

Social relations are also important. At German ISD, children are first taught how to interact with each other with respect and acceptance before they learn their a, b, c's or basic arithmetic. This is a departure from what I've seen in many US schools. Additionally, these are not helicopter caretakers; they are highly engaged with children yet want them-and create the space for them-to develop the necessary social and coping skills to build friendships and grit.

The importance of community is stressed by the parents of the school. I'm part of a dad's group of the school (with one dad whose daughter has departed even) that regularly gets together to enjoy each others' company and share in the joys of being fathers in an international, tight-knit community. We go camping together, plan weekend activities, and even have our children in the same afterschool robotics club.

German ISD made this wonderful learning opportunity possible. I can't believe that we are able to enjoy this benefit at Texas prices. They are learning tons and enjoying every step of the way. I couldn't ask for more of a school. The teachers are truly lovely and committed along with my wife and me towards fostering these children to be the future leaders of the world.

Our child attended this school from Age 3-5 and we had a largely very positive experience. He went from pure english to German in just a little bit of time (and we are not from Germany nor are we native speakers though admittedly we do know a little). The school evolved rather quickly in this time frame of 2-3 years with expanding classes, onboarding of faculty staff and structural changes to accomodate even those changes! Although it is easy to get bitter about rising prices, it is also the realistic world we live in and to think for once that the amazing, selfless teachers do not deserve it would be a mistake in and of it's own. We had a great experience and with a private school like this, you tend to have more eyes and attention paid to the students than typical public schools. Every school has it's fair share of bullies and rotten students, so it is not safe to assume ANY school is perfect, but we have ZERO regrets going here and if we didn't live an hour away (one-way), we would have continued to make it happen.

We have also met lifelong friends at the school and that speaks volumes to the nature of europeans. Cannot say the same thing about most texans, but the families, friendships, and comrades that we were able to reap benefit wise from this school made it that much worth it. We have only good things to say and we appreciate the hard working teachers who made this experience that much better.

We highly recommend the German International School of Dallas! Our children have spent their preschool years and two years in the elementary programme and are now fluent in German despite having non-German speaking parents.

Throughout the years, GISD have offered our children a safe and nurturing learning environment. Staff is caring, friendly and qualified to teach. Given the small size of the school, you know all the teachers and they always respond to your concerns and follow up with you. Also, what we loved (being from Northern part of Europe myself) is that the school stays true to the German educational approach where kids spend significantly more time of the school day outside. Our children loved recess in the pouring rain and they are allowed to jump in puddles and play with mud. Also, the school does a great job at fostering independence in the kids.

Recently, the school implemented the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy and it has - in my opinion - really lifted the preschool programme. So many creative activities every day, working with lights, colors, movement and the elements of nature.

Overall, GISD gives you a lot of value for your money especially if you compare the school with other private schools in Dallas. It is more than a school, but a whole community. Parents get together with their kids outside of the school like camping, movie theater etc. We can’t thank GISD and all its amazing teachers enough for making the first part of our childrens’ school journey so awesome!

This school used to be wonderful. The teachers were really nice. They just aren't meeting the expectations that are set. They're slipping, and it's not a good learning environment. I was horrified to pick up my Grandson to see how neglected he was. The excuses they made sickened me. These Teachers have many thinking errors and are harmful to Children. Find a nurturing environment.

We love this school. The teachers are incredibly caring, prepared, and foster the fun in learning. Classrooms are small, thus allowing loving attention and dedication to each young student. It is largely thanks to this school that our children are fluent in both, German and English, and we are seeing them flourish and mature. Towards the end of the summer break our children are looking forward to going back to school which shows how much the school is instilling a joy of studying - something they will greatly benefit from in the future. We highly recommend this school to anyone who is looking for a great education for their children.

My child was a student at this school for two years. It felt like a safe space for the whole family from the beginning. We felt very protected during the pandemic and took part in so many great family activities afterwards. All of the teachers I have met and dealt with are kind, smart and very able. They adore the children they teach. As this is a German school, your child will learn or improve their German and get to know the culture. We benefitted a lot from this system and were very sad to leave! 10/10

My three children went to GISD to learn German and grow up to value traditions and holidays that we observe and celebrate in Germany, something that has always been very important to me, having grown up in Germany.

All of my boys have very different personalities, and all three have loved their time at the school. They have made life-long connections with other German and international families, some of which are still strong to this day. Two of my boys joined the school as toddlers and one of them has gone all the way up Kindergarten before seamlessly transitioning into the American school system.

We have absolutely loved this school, the small class sizes and the loving environment where kids can still play and grow and explore. "Growing up" with the school, the boys had the opportunity to meet many teachers and I can honestly say that they have always been in a nurturing and loving environment. Although all of my kids had different German speaking abilities, they have never felt misunderstood or unable to express themselves. I can only recommend this school to anyone that is looking for a full immersion program. We had a wonderful experience and would not hesitate to chose it again.

I chose this school for its philosophy, great outdoor play space, a lot of outdoor time, the European approach, and that it was okay my son was not potty trained yet. Above all, I wanted him to have a warm and caring experience with his first time away from home. The head mistress of the school personally assured me that his delayed potty training would not be an issue and he would be able to stay with his peers. Part way through the year when classes changed they moved him to the younger class without any notification to me. I was devastated. This is not the experience I wanted for my child and why didn’t they come to me to let me know things had changed?

The worst part was in the weekly summary letters they send to all the families they would say things like, “parents, please potty train your children. We hate seeing a child left behind. ” My child was the only older child in the class (so not very veiled who they were taking about) and was not supposed to be left behind! Why were they trying to make me feel bad about a situation of their creation? Where was their responsibility and ownership? No one asked me about his potty training journey or why he was delayed. There was judgement without seeking understanding. It felt like such a passively aggressive note straight to me before all the parents. I felt very hurt instead of supported or like I was part of their community. This kind of language was used more than once in their letters.

I was hoping for a better experience once he was potty trained and with his peers so we stayed another year. It wasn’t until toward the end of that second year that his teacher told me in a happenstance meeting that my son didn’t engage with German. When she would be explaining to the children my son would go to the other side of the room and look at books or build by himself. As a child led program I can appreciate not forcing him, but what did they do to draw him in? And why didn’t they tell me sooner and would they have ever told me (again, this was a happenstance exchange) ? Had they told me earlier I could have problem solved with my child and with them to help my son.

I really wanted to like this school and I enjoyed the parents I met.

Over the last five years, all three of our children attended (or still attend) GISD. My oldest started in August 2018 and my youngest is still there. Our kids have had the best experience there - emotionally and academically. First, it is a true German immersion school, and all three kids are completely fluent in German. Whenever we go to Germany, my kids can communicate with everyone without any issues. Now that my older two children are in American schools, they go to Goethe Institute classes on the weekend to keep up their German skills. The instructor has also been impressed with their vocabulary.

Second, it is a warm and nurturing environment. We have loved all of the teachers and there has been relatively low turnover for a childcare setting. The teachers (and the director) communicate well and respond very quickly to any issues via email or school app. We have been extremely impressed at how seriously the director has taken any concerns and how quickly she works to resolve them.

Third, the teaching philosophy is very German and we love that the kids go outside (almost) everyday. They are allowed to explore their world, play, and be kids, all while learning at the same time.

Finally, even though it is a small school, it has turned out to be the perfect environment for our family and children. We would highly recommend GISD to any family and, especially, to any family looking to raise native German speakers.

My daughter attended this school from 2021-2023 for the preschool program. After two years there, she left with a lot more confidence in herself and in her German language skills.

With preschools increasingly becoming more academic, I'm grateful my daughter could be part of an early childhood program that gave her the flexibility to learn and explore at her own pace with a focus on play. We loved the small class sizes and really enjoyed getting to know a diverse and international school community of families and teachers!

For my son’s fifth birthday this past week, we took him to the Rawah Ranch in Colorado where one of wranglers from Germany spoke to my son in German as he learned to groom and feed the pony. He was so happy to talk to her in German, and after we left the stables back to the cabin, he was happy to speak to me in German.

After, I thought about how wonderful that he wasn’t at GISD for his birthday because we didn’t continue this year and how regretful that whole experience was with him. He didn’t speak German with her or me because of GISD but in spite of GISD.

My oldest boys attended GISD, and it was an absolutely wonderful experience. The teachers only spoke in German, and they were true educators. They cared about the relationship with the student above all because, as they had explained, a child cannot learn without a strong relationship.

They were masters at educating. Education comes from the word educe, meaning to “draw forth. ” To do this, they inspired, rewarded, loved, and enticed the children to speak German. They drew forth this desire with their educational skills.

Then more than five years later, our youngest attended, and although the prices are much higher, the education was not the same. Which they stated many times. You pay them to educate your child, but they can’t because there are other children. So your money goes towards educating other children—to a point that it’s neglectful.

For example, at the beginning of last year, they sent my son home saying he was sick. He was hot and threw up and was fine the next day. Then this happened again. I was horrified to find out that they were neglecting him in the sun without water, so he was getting heat stroke because the teachers had other children to also take care of.

Throughout the year, when I picked him up from school, it would take him a while to transition to speaking in German with me. I thought that was really odd. Then the teachers told me that they didn’t speak to him in German. They used English. Why would I pay for him to attend a German school to not speak German? I had to tell them to just help him say what he was saying in German and guide him. You know, educate.

The administrator said that it wouldn’t be possible for him to speak German if he wasn’t born speaking German. Obviously, millions of immigrants in Germany would disagree. An absolute wild statement from a school that is supposed to operate in German. So if you’re looking for that, look elsewhere. (That entire conversation still doesn’t make any sense.)

Now to the saddest part. Early education is supposed to inspire confidence in young children. The teachers revealed that they allowed the girls in the class to be so mean to my son that he was scared to go to the table and learn. A child is born loving to learn, and they didn’t educate (inspire, entice, love, reward). They just had him play trains while the girls who called him names and told him he wasn’t good enough were offered the attention. They don’t teach these children skills to have a safe learning environment.

Now, as my son is cutting paper, he is worried about doing a bad job because the kids will be mean to him. How laughable. A five year old doing a bad job at cutting paper. The point is to learn—not to be good.

I regret not taking him out sooner after the teachers allowed a group of children to attack him with sticks on the playground in a corner by neglecting the kids outside. Because again, they can’t watch all the children that you pay to be watched. There was a lot of weird behavior form my son that was so odd, and it came from him not feeling and being safe there.

We are now having to unteach a lot of behaviors that aren’t allowed in our home that were fostered at this school. He is doing much better and is much happier, but the negative mindset that they fostered, it’s just a sad thing to watch a small child work passed, especially when you pay for education…

I wrote to the school privately about many concerns in their app, and they didn’t reply to me while he was still a student.

Our daughter went to GISD for over four years and we have had tremendously positive experience.

In the beginning, we were concerned about GISD's size (very small school), but this turned out to be very beneficial for our daughter's development. The student/ teacher ratio is excellent and all teachers are caring, loving and professional. Because of its smaller size, parents have great access to all staff and you get to participate in certain decisions about the school.

One thing we truly loved about GISD was its capability and willingness to adapt to my daughters' academic needs, providing above grade material in those areas were she demanded more, and giving her more time and support in others. Our daughter loved going to school there. For the new school year, she got accepted to several of the highly competitive private schools in the DFW area.

We feel that our daughter has gained a strong age-appropriate command of the German language (written and verbal), something we have seen again and again whenever we visit Germany.

We truly thank Annegret and the team for four wonderful years and strongly recommend this school to anyone who wants their children to have a "Germany-type" school exposure.

Our 4-year old daughter is beginning her 4th year at GISD. We have been beyond pleased with GISD teachers and administrators. What parent would object to loving, dedicated teachers, to organic meals and snacks, daily outdoor recreation (rain or shine) in a protected and safe area? What parent wouldn't want to see an immersive language development experience and planned school curriculum with teachers who are committed and not stressed out? GISD is fortunate too to have dedicated families and a progressive asset-improvement program. Just today, on the way to GISD, our daughter asked hopefully if today was her long day (we signed on for 2 days a week of after-school care). To our joy, our daughter playfully wants to stay even when it's time to go home. By all measures, we couldn't be more pleased with GISD.