BONN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- PRIMARY PRINCIPAL
- Primary School Principal
Not only is Alex an experienced educator and school administrator, he is also known as Dangerboy. Dangerboy juggles, balances incredible and unlikely objects on his nose and is always up to great fun at school assemblies.
Alex can be seen at the front door greeting students and their every morning and often walking the halls visiting classrooms. At the end of the day, he hops on his bicycle to set off for home.
Born in Great Britain, Alex studied Primary and later Special Needs Education. He was also team leader for visual impairment for 400 schools. More recently he was Assistant Principal and PYP Coordinator in Stuttgart, Germany.
Alex believes the PYP is the best tool to fulfill our school mission and provide a relevant, challenging, and supportive learning environment for children.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Governance Committee
Anna is an Italian national who holds a master's degree in Management Engineering. After having worked in the UK, Italy, USA, and The Netherlands, Anna is currently Chief Procurement Officer and Head of Mobility at DHL Group in Bonn. Her daughter is a proud BIS Primary School student.
Benedicte has a son in the Diploma Programme and a daughter who recently graduated.
She quotes her children: "Both of our children love(d) their time at the school and consider themselves lucky to be able to learn in an environment that makes learning interesting and enjoyable, that challenges them to think about what they learn and that allows them to manage their own learning and to develop their confidence. They appreciate having great teachers to guide them through their years at BIS."
Job Titles:
- ASSISTANT SECONDARY PRINCIPAL
Before coming to BIS, Bina worked in schools in the United States and Peru.
She describes herself as a teacher, data enthusiast and lover of all things related to mindfulness, yoga, food, travel and animals. Bina is also passionated about student wellbeing and the development positive habits.
BULEND CORBALIOGLU, PARENT Bulend Corbacioglu is an investor focusing on longer-term control investments. He is a senior performance improvement specialist who has been helping build global market leaders and making businesses more valuable for over 25 years. Bulend likes to highlight his diving and more recently biking experiences. Bulend, his wife and their son have been part of the BIS community since 2015.
Canadian born, Rob has been living overseas as an educator for over 30 years. He has taught in a range of positions, from Grade 2 P.E. to Grade 12 Advanced Calculus, and been in administration for 25 years.
Having lived in Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Poland, Taiwan, and, now Germany, he has a wealth of cultural experiences that shape his thinking and understanding. A fascination with teaching and learning, leadership theory and culture, has led him to earn an MEd in Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction, and a PhD in Educational Leadership.
Equally importantly, he and his wife are the proud parents of two daughters, both of whom have grown up internationally, completed their university studies, and begun to find success in their own paths.
Job Titles:
- Head of Student Services and Operations
Jo qualified as a teacher of Physical Education, and Social and Personal Education in Great Britain. She has worked as a Social Educational Expert with and trained in both Clinical and Pastoral Counselling and Excellence in Leadership.
Jo is passionate about enabling and empowering students to work towards reaching their true potential, whether academic, social or sporting, and is a positive example of life long learning.
Married with two children, she speaks German, plays football and regularly participates in running races and marathons.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Development Committee
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees
- Retired German Staff Officer
Klaus is a retired German staff officer and holds a Diploma of Education as well as a MSc for Political Strategies. He is now developing projects for the production and use of green hydrogen. He has twins in BIS Primary School.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Policy Committee
- Global VP - Human Resources, Safety and Sustainability for Maxion Wheels
Mark is the Global VP - Human Resources, Safety and Sustainability for Maxion Wheels. The Sinars are long-time residents of Bonn, after moving from the United States. Their children are lifelong Dragons.
Job Titles:
- CO - CURRICULAR SPORTS COORDINATOR
Matt has been an important part of our Co-Curricular Programme since 2012, first as a coach and then as the coordinator. He is quite a sportsman himself, playing basketball, volleyball, softball and golf.
An American and father of four children, Matt is dedicated to bringing the joy and skills found on the field, court and course to students of all ages.
Job Titles:
- SECONDARY SPANISH TEACHER
Paula teaches Spanish to native speakers. She is also a BIS parent, with a child in our Primary School.
Paula is a passionate, compassionate educator. She believes that, if exposed to new information, we can all learn. But we learn a lot more if we are trained to think analytically and critically. As a teacher, this is how Paula makes her students ready for the future.
Job Titles:
- Secondary School Principal
Born in Hong Kong, Peter grew up in Canada. He holds Bachelor degrees in both Applied Economics and Secondary Education, and more recently received a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management from Bath University, UK.
Peter has taught Secondary Maths, Economics and Theory of Knowledge at BIS. He also served as Coordinator of our Diploma Programme 2018 - 2022, achieving wonderful results during the trying times of the pandemic.
Peter's ethics center on acting responsibly, working hard and building a caring and nurturing community. He believes that everyone can be successful, and that BIS is the best place to become inspired and empowered to do so.
His wife, Lizzie, is also a teacher at BIS, and their two children are mini Dragons in our Primary School. Peter is often seen biking with his kids in tow, or on the sidelines of matches cheering our student teams on.
Petra, a seasoned hand in the Accounting Office, joined BIS 15 years ago after switching careers and following a second professional training.
She grew up in Bonn and is a great ambassador for local traditions, like the Kölsch dialect and Carnival.
After more than 20 years at BIS, Sabine loves her team. She feels quite grateful to work with such gifted professionals and am inspired by how much they all can learn from each other.
Sabine oversees our Accounting, Admissions, Communications, Facilities and Purchasing Offices. Born in Germany, she trained as an American Certified Public Accountant and holds degrees in Clinical Psychology and Pedagogy.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Sandhya Balasubrahmanyam is an Indian national who works for the United Nations System Staff College. She holds a PhD in Development Economics and International Development. She has two children at BIS in Grades 10 and 12.
Ute is originally from Southern Germany. She has a master's degree in business administration with a focus on business information systems and worked for many years in the software industry. After several years in France, she stayed connected to culture and language as the Business Manager at a French-German School before coming to BIS. Her two daughters study in Munich and Hamburg. Ute is often out and about in the mountains, and when she's not hiking or mountain biking, she can often be found on her yoga mat.
Originally trained as an electrical engineer, Veit came to teaching after working in the telecommunications industry. He now is a long-time member of our Sciences Department and also leads one of our Co-Curricular coding groups.
When not in the lab, Veit is busy with other pursuits like beekeeping, leading a Scout troop and hobby programming. He is a German national married to an Irish wife and father to two Primary aged children.
Wendy's dedication to helping individual students find their strengths extends beyond the classroom. She leads our Odyssey of the Mind Club, an after school activity. This club focuses on creative problem-solving program where team members solve a predefined long-term problem and present their solution to the problem at a competition.
When not at BIS, Wendy can be found with out walking with her beloved dog.