About Us >> Brief History

Music by Kevin MacLeod

The International School at Sotogrande (ISS) was founded in 1978 by a group of residents of Sotogrande who wanted to offer to the local and growing international community, a British-style education with a Spanish influence. The school was opened in Cortijo Paniagua and very soon developed into a successful and popular primary school. The school was governed by a Board of Governors who retained close links to Sotogrande SA, the company that owns the prestigious Sotogrande estate and provided premises for the original school. By 1990 the school had a roll of 250 pupils and included a high quality secondary school offering UK O-level and A-level courses. For twenty years the school grew steadily and established itself as a leading British-style school in Spain.

In June 1998, following a period of stability of numbers, and in response to the more international climate in southern Spain and in Sotogrande in particularly, a foundation with education and training interests in Britain entered into discussions with Sotogrande SA with a view to developing a new school which would:

• Become a centre of educational excellence appropriate to the needs of students in the 21st century
• Use innovative educational techniques based on the latest research into student learning styles and teaching styles
• Have a vision of education as a lifelong process
• Aim to become a leading international school offering an innovative curriculum based on the best practices of international, British, American and Spanish systems

The educational foundation, represented by Paul Templeton, currently Chairman of the Board of Directors, assumed financial and educational control of ISS. During the academic year 1998-99, plans for a new school were finalised. Sotogrande SA funded the building of a new campus four kilometres from the school's original location. Construction began in February 2000 and the school successfully relocated to its new campus in the summer of 2001. The new school opened as Sotogrande International School (SIS) in September 2001 with a roll of 500.