International School of Texas | Leaners and Leaders Together. Hear what headmistress Grainne O'Reilly says about the school in this video profile: I’m Grainne O’Reilly, and I’m the Headmistress of the International School of Texas. I’ve been very privileged to be part of the international world now for about 15 years. I have over 30 years experience in the world of education. The International School of Texas is really the epitome of everything that is the very, very best in education worldwide. It is an opportunity that has arisen out of a group of parents seeking the absolute best that can possibly be achieved on behalf of their children. We are supported by the standards of the British National Curriculum, so we’re talking about very, very high standards. One of the reasons for choosing the British National Curriculum as the backdrop to our standards is because it is considered to be a broad and balanced curriculum; a curriculum that feeds the whole child, academically, intellectually, socially, emotionally and culturally. We have small class sizes with very good ratios. We teach Mandarin Chinese and we teach Spanish from the age of three. We’re looking at the physical process of PE, and swimming. We’re looking at art, we’re looking at drama, we’re looking at performance, dance, and music. Brain Friendly learning and Positive Behavior go hand-in-hand, and I truly believe that every school wherever one may be in the world should have positive, a whole schools positive behavior model. The child should always know what to expect. They always know that they’re going to be treated tremendously fairly. They always know that they’re going to be treated with great respect. At the International School of Texas currently we take children between the ages of three to eleven. Now that would be the equivalent to well before pre-school, any sort of pre-school experience in this country, and right through to what would be the equivalent here of fifth grade. We are going to be developing our middle school, so we’re going to be growing organically, through to sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade. This is not a day-care experience in any way whatsoever; this is a very robust, a very challenging, a very academic, and indeed a very wonderful school experience. We have a beautiful campus. It’s set on a hill above Lake Travis with beautiful views. We’re set on eight acres, it’s a garden setting, its safe, and secure. As a selective private school it is tremendously important that I meet every single family individually; every child and of course the parents. Its really not the children that I’m choosing, most often it is the families that I’m choosing, because I want families to come to me who really do understand what we do; who applaud and celebrate what we do, and who are going to applause and celebrate their children in the same way that we do it. We don’t test children in our school we continually assess them. So, what we are able to do is really get to the root of what the child has learned, what they need to learn, and how we can challenge them. Basically they have learned how to learn. They are life-long learners, and that’s what we’re setting out to achieve. It’s a tremendously positive experience, and it’s something that works with every child, not only in the greater Austin area, not only in Texas, but I would certainly … well, I wouldn’t hesitate to say in the world. If you feel that the International School of Texas maybe the right set for your family, for your children, we would really encourage you to contact us, give us a call, and we will organize a tour for you, and I really look forward to meeting you.