MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL 

Welcome to this small window into our very special school, the International School of Monza. Whilst the school has a thirty-year-long year history and has close ties with its sister schools around Italy, there's a fresh and unique feel to everything we do.

Johanna Karen Urquhart

At ISMonza, a full International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum school authorised to offer the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP), we endeavour to deliver the International Baccalaureate programmes in the purist of forms, with the school’s core values and the IB’s Learner Profile embodied in everything that we do. Both the school and the group to which it belongs, have an established record of success in the IB, from age 2 all the way through to admission to the world’s leading universities at age 18.

Perhaps most of note is the sense of collaboration that exists amongst all members of the school community. This is most evident in the way in which our highly qualified mother-tongue teachers and inquisitive students work towards a common goal of academic success which is seamlessly balanced with an inherent commitment to active global citizenship at every level. 

Although all classrooms are fitted with smart TVs and students bring tablets or laptops to school, we use technology in a blended approach where we feel it adds value to teaching and learning and not merely to replace traditional methods (yes, we do use books and, yes, we do talk to one another). We also prepare our Italian students to sit their Quinta Elementare and Terza Media examinations with us and, year on year, they achieve truly exceptional results. Furthermore, our culminating programme, the IB Diploma, has legal equivalence to the Maturita’.

All this takes place in our city-centre campus – a stylish and colourful factory conversion – which has been specifically designed to foster collaborative approaches to teaching and learning. Our science laboratories are fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and we also boast carefully designed on-site spaces which support the delivery of our Reggio-Inspired Early Years Curriculum, three beautiful libraries, as well as studios for visual arts, drama and music, supported by a large sports complex just a three minute walk away. That said, living in such a culturally rich part of the world, we take many opportunities to knock down our classroom walls and learn from opportunities in the local and not-so-local area.

I hope our small window to the world gives you a taste of what we believe is a very special educational offering at ISMonza and I look forward to personally welcoming you through the door to witness it for yourselves.

Johanna Urquhart,
Principal