History

The School, founded by Mrs. Monique Porter, started in a private building under the name of Pershing Hall in 1964. At the beginning there were 6 students representing 5 different nationalities, and the tuition at that time was $500!

Pershing Hall grew rapidly and soon expanded its curriculum from Kindergarten to 8th grade. Mrs. Jannick Jones, who started the school with Mrs. Porter, was the first Headmistress and gave the basic philosophy to the School.  She taught Maths and French, and at the same time was cooking lunch for the students on a gas stove!

In 1975, after several moves to various facilities in the 16th arrondissement, the School settled in 96 bis rue du Ranelagh and changed its name to the International School of Paris. At that time, the Board decided that ISP was to grow again to include a middle and high school. After another round of house hunting, ISP’s middle and high school was able to move into 7 rue Chardin in 1983. Finally, in 1985, the School expanded into 6 rue Beethoven, which was the former art school of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, built around 1930.

By 2004, the School had 483 students, and was successfully running all three IB programmes (PYP, MYP and IB Diploma). Additional space was needed to accommodate the planned growth to approximately 650 students, resulting in the acquisition of two new buildings: 13 rue Beethoven for the Secondary School, and 98 rue du Ranelagh for the Primary School. Today, the school boasts close to 700 students and over 60 nationalities, representing 62 languages.

Throughout its 46 years of history, ISP has provided a first-rate international education to a diverse, motivated and happy student body. This would not have been possible without committed and professional teachers and staff, strong leaders, visionary trustees and active parent participation, all to whom we owe our success today.       

Based on an article by Monique Porter, founder of the School. Click here to read the whole article.