A wonderful and vibrant celebration was held on June 19, 2026, in the ballroom of the IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems to mark the 10th anniversary of International School Krems. Host Mag. Dr. Udo Brändle, LL.M. (Com) welcomed more than two hundred guests and moderated the event.
In a look back at the beginnings of the private Catholic elementary school, initiator Dr. Heinz Boyer explained the reasons for founding this international school, which started in September 2016 with 21 children in a multi-age classroom. The educational director, Dipl.-Päd. Bianca Branter, pointed out the rapid growth of the school, which is largely due to the visionary concept of the bilingual, all-day school with an integrated schedule—at the time a unique selling point in the Lower Austrian school landscape.
In a video shown afterwards featuring numerous photos from daily school life over the past ten years, headmistress OSR Petra Wolfsberger, MSc, explained the development of the school and highlighted the creative opportunities and the extraordinary cooperation of the team—teachers, native speakers, and recreational educators—as key factors in its success. In a second round of interviews with Diocesan Bishop Dr. Alois Schwarz, the Educational Director of Lower Austria, Mag. Karl Fritthum, and Regional Councilor Mag. Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister, the topics of educational partnerships and values-based education were discussed, and their importance was emphasized. A special partnership was then sealed with the signing of a cooperation agreement between ISK and the BRG Rechte Kremszeile.
The high quality of education from the perspective of school supervision, school owners, and parents was highlighted in a talk with SQM Mag. Susanne Ripper, school founder Dr. Guntard Gutmann, parent representative Julia Sax, and headmistress Petra Wolfsberger, before she then symbolically handed over a specially made wooden key, along with the best wishes for the next ten years, to her successor Dipl.-Päd. Ruth Eder, BEd, MA, who has been the head of the ISK Junior High School since last year.
Abbot Patrick Schöder of the Göttweig Benedictine Abbey blessed a new cross for the school, and the choir of the ISK Junior High School at Göttweig brightened up the celebration with two performances.
This was followed by the absolute highlight of the evening: the musical "Best of ISK", written by headmistress Wolfsberger herself, in which all the children of the elementary school participated as actors, singers, and dancers, completely delighting the audience. To close the event, the school owners and guests of honor received a school chronicle as a personal gift from the headmistress on the occasion of her departure from the school at the end of the school year. The celebration came to a cozy conclusion with snacks and drinks in the garden of the IMC.
