Future & History
BBIS Master Plan
BBIS aspires to be a full-facility international school like so many others in the world's capital cities and intends to develop a complete international campus with sufficient classrooms for approximately 1200 students.
The acquisition of nearly the entire historical site of Kleinmachnow's Seeberg in December 2005 marked a new era of development for BBIS. The purchase of 356,000 square metres of land, including the forest and the lake shore, has provided the school with a firm basis for strategic plans and major construction work, part of which have already been carried out.
The BBIS Master Plan includes the following:
- Renovation of House 1 as an Early Childhood Education facility, which will include an Early Childhood playground
- Construction of an multi-storey Early Childhood multipurpose hall
- House 2 will become the Elementary School and House 3 the Middle School
- Construction of a cafeteria with a fully equipped kitchen between House 3 and House 5
- House 4 will host the school administration offices
- Renovation of House 5 and 6 as High School facilities
- Construction of a new theatre in House 7 which will include a 500-seat auditorium with professional lighting and sound, rehearsal rooms for instrumental and choral groups, make-up rooms, production and storage facilities
- Renovation of House 9 as an arts centre and a boarding school with a capacity for around 120 boarding students
- Construction of a new swimming hall
BBIS History
1990_Beginnings in Potsdam
The International School Berlin-Potsdam (ISBP) was founded on 2 October 1990 and located in an eastern area of Potsdam in a large, rented villa on the Heiligensee waterfront. In September 1994, the school opened a second facility in a recently renovated villa down the street for its growing upper school.
1997_Moving to Neu Fahrland
By summer 1997 the school had grown from 10 students at its beginning to over 100 in grades preK-12 and therefore moved to a beautiful waterside park in Neu Fahrland, just north of Potsdam. The school was housed in a set of renovated buildings near the Heinenhof, a large villa built by the youngest son of the founder of Siemens A.G. as his summer residence.
1998_Reorganization: ISBP becomes BPIS
In August 1998 the school encountered significant financial problems due to the cost of renovations at the new site coupled with the burden of the old Potsdam rental contracts. The school declared bankruptcy, and a new school called Berlin-Potsdam International School GmbH (BPIS) was established as a limited-liability, non-profit GmbH. A new Supervisory Board was formed, and an interim head was hired for the 1999-2000 school year.
2001_Moving to Kleinmachnow
By 2000 BPIS had attracted slightly more than 200 students, reaching a high of 217 in 2001. Yet after an unsuccessful attempt to enlarge the school campus by purchasing the Heinenhof and its park, the school had to move again. Happily, a perfect site for the school was found in Kleinmachnow, much closer to Berlin, yet still green, on the water, and near a castle.
The site is called the Seeberg and includes six large buildings (houses) built between 1938 and 1943 for the Third Reich Post Office Ministry. The buildings were used for secret war research into radar and camera-guided weapons, code research, and high-tech eavesdropping. After the war, the site became a large political indoctrination academy called the Karl Marx Party High School. Finally, after the German reunification in 1990, the site was given to Deutsche Telekom.
Nearby the Hakeburg castle, built at the turn of the 20th century, overlooks the Machnow Lake and is nestled into the woods belonging to the school. During World War II the castle served as a home of the German Post Office Minister and later as a guesthouse of the GDR government.
From April to September 2001 the school worked feverishly to renovate one of the six institute buildings on the Seeberg site. When House 2 opened on 3 September 2001, the newly renovated building contained a library, computer lab, three science labs, administration offices, art centre, music rooms and a total of 18 regular classrooms on its four floors. As a result of the move and the new campus, the BPIS student population grew to almost 300.
2002_Our new name: BBIS
On 1 June 2002 the school announced that it was changing its name to Berlin Brandenburg International School (BBIS) as of 1 September 2002. This change recognizes the fact that the school is no longer in Potsdam, that it is grateful for the strong support of the State of Brandenburg, and that it serves students and families in a large geographical area very well known both inside and outside Germany.
2005_Purchasing the Seeberg
After its relocation to the Seeberg site, the school began negotiations with Deutsche Telekom and the village of Kleinmachnow for the purchase of Kleinmachnow's Seeberg and finally bought the area (except for the Hakeburg castle) in December 2005.
Recent Campus Growth
- A full-sized artificial turf sports field opened on the campus in autumn 2007.
- A triple multipurpose sports hall was completed adjacent to the sports field in spring 2008.
- In August 2008 BBIS opened an off campus boarding facility with space for 20 students.
- By autumn 2008 the renovation of House 3 was completed.
- In 2009 the basement floor of House 3 was refurbished and now comprises two IT labs and a fully equipped Design Technology suite along with additional classrooms and a central IT office.
- In the school year 2009/2010 BBIS built a new, larger library, enlarged and redesigned its cafeteria and renovated the Heizhaus drama and exhibition space.
- The construction of a new playground for Middle and High School students was completed in summer 2010.
- In autumn 2010 the boarding facility moved onto the school campus and offers space for up to 60 boarding students now, which can be enlarged to accommodate up to 120 boarding students.
