The International School of Vantaa

International School of Vantaa

Formative Years

The International School of Vantaa began as a one-room school within the regular Finnish School system in 1993. There was one bi-lingual teacher and a supervisor who oversaw the curriculum and did planning for the school’s future in coordination with the Vantaa School’s Office.

Inquiry science education was introduced into the curriculum with adjunct training for the teacher during the first year. The following year, inquiry science became a focal point of the curriculum and each new teacher that came on board in the following 7 years took part in, and received training from, trainers from the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California, a fore-runner in this methodology.

In 1995 the numbers of applicants to the school grew to such numbers, that it was decided to remodel two floors of an old office building in Hiekkaharju for the growing numbers of children. The unique feature of this renovation was a library/reception area with sofas, and room for science/art exhibits. Visitors were welcome to view the space.  Over the next five years grants from the EU provided support for a wider view of European education via the “Science Throughout the Curriculum Project” which included Greece, Vienna, Reading(England) and Vantaa. Another source of funding for the arts came from the Erete Foundation which provided funds for an “artist in residence program” incorporating arts, history and science.

Vantaa had a program of cooperation between industry and schools. The Tikkurila school worked with several businesses, one of whom was Neste, the other Imatran Voima.  The school cooperated on a lego/logo project in which the children learned how the various devices at a car-wash work and modeled them with lego. The second project involved the junior high and the physics of the car brake.

The school remained at Hiekkaharju until 2003 when it moved to its present premises in Kartanokoski and with that a change in administration came.