Welcome to International School Leiden
Choosing the right school is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your child’s future. At International School Leiden, we provide a warm, inclusive, and globally minded learning environment where every child is encouraged to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Whether you’re new to the Netherlands or looking for an inspiring, internationally focused education for your child, International School Leiden offers the perfect foundation for their next step.
“We strive to instill in all of our students compassion, empathy, understanding, and integrity.”
ISL is proud to stand in the tradition of religious freedom and tolerance. Our core values :- confidence, solidarity and wonder, are of importance in the way we aim for our students to develop as responsible global citizens, aware of their own backgrounds and traditions, respectful to others and open to genuine dialogue and encounter.
We are committed to deliver learning that:
- values and embraces diversity and culture;
- empowers students regardless of their background or how they identify;
- encourages critical thinking toward social responsibility, and;
- teaches respect for others.
ISL stands in rich soil: the foundation for the school is the story typical to this city of Leiden of religious tolerance and freedom of speech. In the early 17th century, a group of English Protestants broke ties with the English state church because of differing views on the Reformation. To escape persecution, they fled to the Netherlands – and eventually settled in Leiden, because the city was known to take in refugees and tolerate various religions. In the shadow of the Pieterskerk, they found the freedom to practice their religion and it was from here that the Pilgrims set their course for a New World. In their search for liberty, they took with them lessons learned here of freedom and tolerance.
This story we wish to pass on to our students. We teach those lessons of freedom and tolerance. Our international school is proud of that tradition. Like the Pilgrim Fathers, our school has a Protestant Christian foundation. We are open to all religions, faith and beliefs and we endorse the freedom in which people may practice their religion.
