German International School of Dallas, Farmers Branch | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I chose this school for its philosophy, great outdoor play space, a lot of outdoor time, the European approach, and that it was okay my son was not potty trained yet. Above all, I wanted him to have a warm and caring experience with his first time away from home. The head mistress of the school personally assured me that his not being fully potty trained would not be an issue and he would be able to stay with his peers. That was our main reason for choosing the school. Part way through the year when classes changed they moved him to the younger class without any notification to me. I was devastated. This is not the experience I wanted for my child and why didn’t they come to me to let me know things had changed?

The worst part was in the following weekly summary letters they send to all the families they would say things like, “parents, please potty train your children. We hate seeing a child left behind.” My child was the only older child in the class so not very veiled who they were taking about and was not supposed to be left behind! They left him behind. Why were they trying to make me feel bad about a situation of their creation? No one asked me about his potty training journey or why he was delayed. There was no team approach to my child nor curiosity nor sensitivity to what we were going through. It felt like such a passively aggressive note straight to me before all the parents. I felt very hurt instead of supported or like I was part of their community. This kind of language was used more than once in their letters.

I was hoping for a better experience once he was potty trained and with his peers so we stayed another year. He was the only one in his class that didn’t have German at home and he felt left out. They told me he would go off by himself when they would explain and talk about activities. That’s not the experience I was hoping for. I really want to like this school and I’m so sad it didn’t work out. I enjoyed the parents I met.

We highly recommend the German International School of Dallas! Our children have spent their preschool years and two years in the elementary programme and are now fluent in German despite having non-German speaking parents.

Throughout the years, GISD have offered our children a safe and nurturing learning environment. Staff is caring, friendly and qualified to teach. Given the small size of the school, you know all the teachers and they always respond to your concerns and follow up with you. Also, what we loved (being from Northern part of Europe myself) is that the school stays true to the German educational approach where kids spend significantly more time of the school day outside. Our children loved recess in the pouring rain and they are allowed to jump in puddles and play with mud. Also, the school does a great job at fostering independence in the kids.

Recently, the school implemented the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy and it has – in my opinion – really lifted the preschool programme. So many creative activities every day, working with lights, colors, movement and the elements of nature.

Overall, GISD gives you a lot of value for your money especially if you compare the school with other private schools in Dallas. It is more than a school, but a whole community. Parents get together with their kids outside of the school like camping, movie theater etc. We can’t thank GISD and all its amazing teachers enough for making the first part of our childrens’ school journey so awesome!