The International School of Bergen (ISB) was founded in 1975 and is a non-profit, coeducational day school, enrolling students in pre-school through grade 10. The International School of Bergen, when created, was one of many components of Bergen's infrastructure attractive to international investors. The purpose of the school was two-fold: to provide an education for the children of expatriate oil company personnel in Bergen and to attract further corporate investment in the Bergen area. Typical of most international schools, once established in a community, ISB's programmes became known outside of the "corporate circle" and parents (both local and permanent foreign) began to seek admission for their children. Local children are most often enrolled because their parents have been abroad and the children have begun their education in an English-speaking school, which makes transition to "native language" schools difficult or impossible or, one or the other of the parents is an Englishspeaking foreigner married to a local citizen and wishes their children to attend an English language school in order to preserve a dual cultural identity. Foreign residents generally choose to send their children to an English language school in order to assure their children alternatives for tertiary education abroad. Yet another category of parent is emerging in the international schools network and much attention is being given to this group. These are local citizens who envision a future for their children which will demand total bi- or multi-lingual fluency and who believe, quite correctly, that a primary and secondary education in an English-language school, combined with daily life, language and cultural growth in yet another language medium, will achieve this goal. The inclusion of these more permanent students into a small international school such as ISB is positive in at least three ways. Firstly, the "international" aspect of the school is enhanced. Secondly, a "cultural bridge" between the school and local community is built and, thirdly, the presence of these children helps to stabilise the enrolment of the school and thus assure the continuity of the programme despite fluctuations in the number of multi-national corporate investors in the community.

ACCREDITATION: The International School of Bergen was accredited in 1985, then re-accredited in 1995 by both the European Council of International Schools (UK) and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (USA). The school was awarded accreditation for a 10-year period, which is the maximum amount granted to schools. This indicates the high esteem the organisations have for our programmes. The school is also accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organisation to deliver the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme in Grades 6 through 10 and was last evaluated in 2003.