Over 140 gifts donated by our community and hands-on volunteering by our GISSV Interact Club brought holiday magic to Bay Area families in need.
BeSO & College Counseling
With the dual diploma, the German International Abitur (DIA) and the High School Diploma, GISSV prepares its students for universities and careers worldwide. Making self-determined and conscious decisions about one's future educational and career path is a challenging task for students at the end of their school journey. With the diverse offerings of academic and career guidance, our expertise, and individual counseling, we support and accompany the students and their families in this decision-making process.
*Logo: Winners of an in-school student competition on the topic of Logo Design in the subject of Art/BeSO in the school year 2022/23 - Grade 11 (Katjana K., Kai F., Fabian Z.)
- The Team
- COUNSELING AND COACHING SERVICES FOR GRADES 9-12
- INFORMATION AND EVENTS
- Internship Experiences for Grades 9–10
- MENTORING PROGRAM
- CAREER ORIENTATION/BeSO IN GRADES 10-11
- ORIENTATION - PATHWAYS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL IN GERMANY & PARTNERSHIPS
- STUDYING IN THE U.S./ COLLEGE COUNSELING
The Team
COUNSELING AND COACHING SERVICES FOR GRADES 9-12
INFORMATION AND EVENTS
Internship Experiences for Grades 9–10
MENTORING PROGRAM
CAREER ORIENTATION/BeSO IN GRADES 10-11
ORIENTATION - PATHWAYS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL IN GERMANY & PARTNERSHIPS
STUDYING IN THE U.S./ COLLEGE COUNSELING
See the video to learn more about GISSV's Career Orientation (BeSO) class and Job Shadowing Week.
SPOTLIGHTS
Field Trips - Experts in the Classroom - BeSO Class
GISSV's Entrepreneurship Club had the unique opportunity to attend the Plug and Play Silicon Valley Summit, immersing themselves in the world of innovation.
GISSV students achieved record-breaking results in this year’s Lange Nacht der Mathematik, advancing further than ever before!
GISSV celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with an insightful event, featuring a special address by Prof. Dr. James Sheehan, Stanford Professor (emeritus).
GISSV proudly co-hosted the Jugend debattiert North America Finals, bringing together young debaters from across the continent.
GISSV Students opened Kevin Chaplin's talk at Stanford, honoring GISSV’s support for the Amy Foundation.
11th graders had the chance to learn from the journalist, discussing her career and delving into the world of cultural journalism.
Hanni Geist from the DAAD delivered an informative virtual presentation on studying in Germany for students and parents.
Our students explored the importance of democracy through hands-on projects, tying into elections in Germany and the US.
Curious how the German International Abitur prepares students for success at top universities? Hear from our alumni!
The renowned cellist and pianist captivated our students with an unforgettable workshop and performance.
Our students recently had the chance to explore the world of Boogie Woogie with the renowned pianist!
For the first time, a GISSV 12th-grade team participated in the prestigious Bonner Mathematikturnier, focusing on game theory.
Our annual Job Shadowing Fair for Grades 9-11 was a huge success!
A Bundestag delegation visited GISSV, engaging with school leaders and students on Deeper Learning and AI in education.
On Wednesday morning, Mira K.. from 10th grade and Dash D. from 11th grade, alongside their teacher, Jenny Jungeblut, took the stage.
Last week, we had a special visit from Kiel-based artist and children's book author at our San Francisco preschool!
"Kreide, KI, Klartext" - a podcast at the intersection of education and future developments, exploring the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence (AI = KI in German) in education.
Our MUN Club students and Teacher Natalie Hoffart attended the NHSMUN 50th Conference in New York City!
We had the pleasure of hosting the renowned children's author, John Archambault, at GISSV!
We had the honor of hosting Dr. Beate Illek, Adjunct Prof. in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, UC San Diego, in our Career and Study Orientation class.
Last week, Class 3a had the incredible opportunity to host Jennifer Richardson, author and parent of one of our students.
Recently, GISSV's AI startup project garnered attention on two German-language platforms.
On Monday, the all-day vocational and academic orientation workshop (Berufs-und Studienorientierungsworkshop) took place in classes 10a and 10b.
Our 7th graders in Mountain View and our 7th and 8th graders in San Francisco had the opportunity to participate in a music workshop with pianist Frank Muschalle.
Exciting insights into the remarkable careers of 10 graduates of German International Schools in North America were shared at the first virtual Alumni panel last week.
Our Mountain View Campus had the pleasure of hosting Thomas Blaeschke and Sara Dähn from Voice Over Piano for 2 amazing workshops!
Former GISSV student Kimi Joehren (Class of 2021) recently visited the 11th-grade BeSO class.
Yesterday, we hosted this year's Job Shadowing Fair on our Mountain View Campus.
Check out the latest "Didacta" issue (3/2023, page 32) to read the insightful interview with Thomas Spahn, former Head of School (interim) at GISSV.
Last week in our BeSO (Career and Study Orientation) class, we had the pleasure of welcoming GISSV alumnus Kai Bajka (class of 2016).
After attending the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, GISSV students got the chance to meet lead actor of "The Ordinaries" Noah Tinwa.
The Bay Areas Überflieger winners from 2022 spend currently a week in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Thank you to the dedicated group of parents who taught Junior Achievement lessons to students in Kindergarten through 8th grade!
Our 9th graders got professional support for their blog project
Thank you to HSV CEO Jonas Boldt and COO Dr. Dr. Eric Huwer for stopping by GISSV in Mountain View - together with German Consul General Oliver Schramm - during the break.
It was a pleasure to welcome author Becky Grant and illustrator Eva Demel to GISSV on both our campuses.
Last Monday we welcomed Dr. Ivo Veit Wanwitz, attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP Düsseldorf, to GISSV Mountain View.
Students of our junior class present their job shadowing experiences from April 2022 to students, teachers, and parents during a Job Shadowing Fair.
Michael Pfeifer, co-founder of the Berlin-based sustainable fashion startup MOOT talked about sustainable fashion.
Thank you to Ulrike Hennings for her virtual visit at GISSV on Tuesday!
Thank you to the dedicated group of parents who taught Junior Achievement lessons to students in Kindergarten through 8th grade!
After attending the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, GISSV students got the chance to talk to lead actor of 'Wet Dog' Doguhan Kabadayi.
On International Women’s Day, journalist Marie-Astrid Langer talked to our 11th and 12th graders about Kamala Harris.
For the Women's Day event we welcomed special guest Beate Antonich and inspiring speaker Caterina Mandel.
Last spring GISSV's class of 2023 spent inspiring five days in companies around the Bay Area for their shadowing week.
"Shaping the Future of Entrepreneurship in Germany and the US" - a Wunderbar Together initiative
The 4th graders in Mountain View had their very first Career Day last week.
We established a partnership in our Afternoon Athletics Program with the John F. Kennedy University this year.
Congratulations on their distinguished list of acceptance letters!
In NuG (Natur & Gesellschaft = Nature & Society) the students of grade 4b are learning about "Erfinder und Entdecker" (inventors and explorers) and how prizes like the Nobel Prize were awarded for trailblazing inventions.
Prof. Dr. Meinel, Director & CEO of HPI; KMK President Ministerin Ernst, Head of the ZfA Fr. Toledo, and Consul General Südbeck
Thank you to the dedicated group of parents who taught Junior Achievement lessons online to students in 1st - 8th grade during Junior Achievement Day on February 24.
Recognized for Closing the Gender Gap in AP Computer Science Principles
Alumnus Titan Yuan (class of 2016) talks to GISSV high school students about his time at GISSV and UC Berkeley.
German Pro-Cycling Sprinter Pascal Ackermann from team Bora-hansgrohe Professional Cycling answered our student's questions on professional cycling.
Thank you to the dedicated group of parents who taught Junior Achievement lessons to students in Kindergarten through 8th grade during Junior Achievement Day at GISSV Mountain View.
Congratulations to GISSV 8th grader, Luana C., for being a winner of The New York Times Review Contest for middle schoolers!
GISSV High School students interested in chemistry and computer science went on a special field trip to Stanford University to join postgraduate Stefan Seritan for his presentation on Theoretical Chemistry.*
Our 11th and 12th graders visited the SOFIA Program Office at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View (Moffett Field) today.
The official German Schools Abroad (DAS) in the US and Canada together created a new joint website.

Thanks to GISSV parent Martin Barthel the students of our Entrepreneur Club got the chance to visit the Facebook headquarter.

Thanks to GISSV parent and SOFIA team member Dr.-Ing. Enrico Pfüller!
Thank you to our guest speakers Hanni Geist from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) and Dolores Volkerts from the Technical University Munich (TU München).

During a Startup Day right before the Christmas break the GISSV Entrepreneur Club worked on startup ideas, met real founders at a co-working space and went to a pitch event in Palo Alto.

On Wednesday, our 6th grade class received a special treat.

Yann Corlay, a French associate creative director at Facebook and founder of the fashion company Crusoé, met the French Club last Wednesday.

GISSV Mountain View 10th graders gained hands-on work experiences in companies and offices around the Bay Area last week.

A dedicated group of parents and local business partners taught Junior Achievement lessons to our kindergarten through 8th grade students.

Jennifer Krejcik, GISSV High School Counselor visits GISSV Alumni in SoCal

Hanni Geist from the DAAD office in San Francisco (DAAD = German Academic Exchange Service) payed GISSV in Mountain View a visit last week.

Thank you to "Google Translate Star" (Forbes) Dr. Franz Josef Och who gave a talk to our 10th graders supporting their AI project.

Our 10th graders got support in their research on the global classroom project "Artificial Intelligence" by experts from Daimler-Benz.

A representative from the Columbia University presented the SciencesPo Program to GISSV's 11th graders.

Mountain View's 8th graders learned about virtual reality, 3D printing and more.

GISSV students from grade 12 attended a STEM event where they listened to an inspiring panel discussion and ran through a whole development cycle of a new drug.

GISSV Mountain View's 11th graders were pleased to welcome special guests Enrico Mund and Martina Hengge–professionals with United Nations (UN) experience.

In the course of our Career and Higher Education Orientation (BeSO) 11th graders talked to a GISSV alumni about his experiences at a German university.

GISSV Mountain View 10th graders gained hands-on work experiences in companies and offices around the Bay Area last week.

GISSV 10th graders got the chance to talk to scientists about their work at the renowned SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford.

A dedicated group of parents and local business partners taught Junior Achievement lessons to our kindergarten through 8th grade students.

Mountain View 10th graders had the opportunity to experience the work of a startup first-hand.

French start-up founder Celine Goudy shared her experiences with GISSV Mountain View's French Club and brought some specialties along.

Our Mountain View 10th graders spent an inspiring internship week in companies and offices around the Bay Area.

2012 GISSV alumna Julie Vass was named to the 2015 WCC Women's Soccer All-Academic Team.

Three GISSV students participate in the University of Heidelberg's propaedeutic physics program.


DAS Alumni Panel Discussion 2024: Opening Doors to Colleges Worldwide
Six graduates of German International Schools in North America shared how the German International Abitur opened doors to top colleges around the world. It was great to hear firsthand how the Abitur helped our alumni navigate their academic journeys and secure spots at leading universities. Special shout-out to our GISSV alumnus Matthew (GISSV class of 2015) and a big thanks to our fantastic moderator, Jens Korte, President & Senior Correspondent at New York German Press, who reports daily from the New York Stock Exchange!
DAS Alumni Panel Discussion 2023: Building a Career on the German Abitur
Ten German International School graduates in North America shared exciting career insights during our first virtual alumni panel. Thanks to the global school network, they seamlessly relocated, embraced challenging programs, made friends worldwide, excelled at prestigious institutions, and now enjoy successful careers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Gratitude to all participants, alumni, and a special shout-out to our GISSV alumni Roline and Jack! Many thanks to our fantastic moderator, Jens Korte.