International School of Hannover Region Selects New Director

Senior Consultant Gunther Brandt and Ralph Jahr announced that the International School Hannover Region (ISHR) in Germany has appointed Ms. Rachel Hovington as their new Director, to begin August 2016. Joining her in the ISHR community will be her spouse and their two children.

Ms. Hovington is currently Associate Headmaster at the Atlanta International School (AIS) in Atlanta, GA (U.S.A.), a position she has held since 2010. Before her promotion to Associate Headmaster, Ms. Hovington served at AIS in various leadership positions: Deputy Head of the upper school, IB Diploma Coordinator as well as Grade Level Leader, and Head of Science. Prior to moving to Atlanta, she taught in the U.K. at the Kimberley School. Ms. Hovington earned an M.A. in Educational Leadership and Management from the University of Bath in the U.K. She also has a Postgraduate Certificate of Education from the University of Nottingham and a B.S. in Applied and Environmental Geology from the University of Birmingham in the U.K.

Until the early 1990’s, the British army school in Hannover provided a British or American curriculum in English. When that school closed in 1992, some international companies launched a campaign to start another international school in the Hannover region. In the meantime, an English annex was added to the Hinrich-Wilhelm-Kopf-Schule, a state primary school where 45 students, first through sixth grade, were taught by five native-speaking teachers. By May 1996, authorities granted subsidies, and the city of Hannover lent a school campus to the newly formed Internationale Schule Hannover Region GmbH (ISHR). The following fall, 67 students from 20 countries enrolled in seven grades taught by nine teachers. One school year later, ISHR hired its first overseas director and joined the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) as well as the Association of German International Schools (AGIS). Over the next seven years, ISH earned incremental authorization to deliver each level of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. In 2001, the first senior class graduated (“About Us: A Brief History”).

Today, 590 K-12 students of over 45 nationalities study at each level of the IB program. The faculty is comprised of 70 teachers, the majority of whom are native speakers with previous experience in national or international schools. ISHR is proud of the IB Diploma results, with alumni students studying at renowned universities on five different continents (“About Us: General”).

Over the last ten years ISHR has made many renovations and additions to most areas of the school: classrooms, library, technology, dining room and kitchen, gymnasiums, music and music practice rooms, art rooms, study areas, and science labs. The school earned further accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and Council of International Schools (CIS). Search Associates congratulates Rachel Hovington and her family on their exciting move to such a fine institution (“About Us: Facilities”).

“About Us: Brief History.” International School Hannover Region. Web. 13 November 2015. http://www.is-hr.de/.

“About Us: Facilities.” International School Hannover Region. Web. 13 November 2015. http://www.is-hr.de/.

“About Us: General Information.” International School Hannover Region. Web. 13 November 2015. http://www.is-hr.de/.