Annual Report 2024

We are delighted to share with you the 2023/24 Annual Report, which showcases our programmes, financial standing, and strategic growth.

ISP has a bright future ahead. We continue to be the premier international school in Prague, with aspirations to be one of the most innovative and impactful International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in Europe. We are fully enrolled, have outstanding student outcomes, attract extraordinary faculty, and are fiscally sound.

In 2023/24, we proudly achieved several significant milestones, including authorisation as a full IB Continuum School, offering IB programmes across all year groups for all students. Additionally, we were re-licensed by the Czech Ministry of Education and re-accredited by NEASC, reaffirming our commitment to excellence through a rigorous, inquiry-based, and interdisciplinary academic framework. These achievements are a testament to our outstanding academic performance, innovative teaching practices, and the deepening of our culture of care. We remain committed to fostering global citizenship and empowering the next generation of leaders.

Operating a leading school in Europe is not without its challenges. Ongoing wars affect parts of our community, and political and economic shifts are causing more families to face uncertainty. Students are grappling with mental health challenges, often exacerbated by social media, and space on campus is limited. Our Senior Leadership team and Board are fully prepared to take on these challenges or others that might be around the corner.

Over the past two years, we have planned important facility upgrades to ensure that students have the resources they need for their learning. Design work for Phase I of the Facility Roadmap is well underway, with plans for a new Design and Innovation Centre (STEM) and Elementary Café opening in autumn/winter 2026. These projects are an important part of our school’s future, ensuring that students have access to learning tools and resources that support our curricular goals and provide breathing room for our crowded school. During the summer of 2026, we will also renovate the Central Kitchen and Cafeteria as part of our regularly scheduled upgrades.

Above all, I want to emphasise our continued commitment to a culture of care that is central to the ISP experience for students, families, and staff. We know that when students feel safe and supported emotionally, it creates the best conditions for learning. This is at the heart of our school’s identity and a value we hold dearly. We hope you enjoy reading the 2023/24 Annual Report and look forward to seeing you on the ISP campus.

Warm Regards,

Dr. Chip Kimball
Director of the International
School of Prague

ISP is a not-for-profit school and last year celebrated its 75th anniversary of operation. We continue to be proud of our student achievements and our position in the Czech Republic as a premier international school.

From a governance standpoint, the Board is responsible for setting direction, policy, and oversight of the Director. Our task is to ensure, that ISP has a strong financial foundation to serve current and future students. This past year, we spent a great deal of time thinking about the future of the school, supported the transition to - and received accreditation for the Full International Baccalaureate Continuum programme, as well as NEASC (New England  Association of Schools and Colleges’) accreditation and the accreditation of the Czech Ministry of Education.

We were also heavily involved in the planning of the future of our campus by supporting both the thinking and direction of the Campus Roadmap. In the coming years, we plan to support the first phase of the Campus Roadmap, beginning with two key projects: the Elementary School dining premises and the Design and Innovation Centre. We expect both projects to be completed within the next two to three years.

Financially, the school has a strong position, ensuring that we attract and retain the best faculty, while also supporting activities for students. Our faculty are at the heart of our school, and each year the Senior Leadership Team assesses both the quality of our faculty and our programmes, as well as ensuring that our compensation systems are in line with our position in the marketplace.

The Board is a volunteer activity and requires many hours of service as we build a strategy for the future of our school. The Board operates on its own but also uses Standing Committees to do more detailed work. We have four standing committees: Advancement, Building and Grounds, Finance, and Governance. These committees make recommendations to the Board for final decision-making.

I would like to express our appreciation to all parents - volunteers on the Board and its committees, as well as active members of the SCA and other school activities.

One of the most important relationships is between the Board and the Director. We collaborate very closely on ensuring that the „good to great“ journey we have embarked upon is executed in the best possible way. As a Board, we are pleased with the progress the school continues to make in being one of the most progressive and impactful IB schools in Europe.

We look forward to the future as we prepare the students for this dynamic and interesting time in their lives.

Warm Regards,

Gabriel Eichler, 
Board of Chair

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ISP would like to thank all donors who provided vital resources to allow students and educators to take the next steps in learning. You are truly making a difference - thank you.

* Families appear in alphabetical order by donor‘s surname.

*Every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of the donor roll. Should you notice an error, or prefer that we list you differently in the future publications, please email advancement@isp.cz

We are pleased to report that ISP ended its 75th year of operations in a healthy state. Student enrolment reached an end-of-year full-time equivalency (FTE) of 959, which is 5% above the budget, generating a 3% increase over budget in gross tuition/CAF income, while expenses were 1% lower than budgeted. The School continued to support a small number of Humanitarian scholarships to help alleviate the impact on international school students resulting from the war in Ukraine.

Tuition and Capital Assessment Fees (CAF) for the 2023/24 fiscal year exceeded the budget by CZK 18,821K due to the increase in student enrolment from 917 to 959, as measured in full- time equivalents (FTE). As with most schools, salaries and benefits continue to represent the school’s greatest operating expense, at 76% of total operating expenses.

The School’s surplus increased to CZK 55,912K in the fiscal year 2023/24 compared to CZK 39,632K in the prior year. The positive result continues to allow the school to maintain its mandated financial reserve of 25% of budgeted expenses, and to ensure the continued growth of resources for the long-term improvement and enhancement of the facilities and campus in line with changes in educational needs and quality improvement.

The School began investing surplus funds during the 2021/22 fiscal year. While necessarily involving some modest risk, investment is a proper stewardship of school resources and fiduciary responsibility in terms of the long-term future of the school. The invested Reserve fund in ISP s.r.o. resulted in the accounted earnings of CZK 4,040K and invested Endowment in both entities (ISP s.r.o. and FoISP) in the total accounted earnings of CZK 575K. The actual value of the Reserve fund in ISP s.r.o. on 30 June 2024 was CZK 149,129K.

Risk Management
ISP’s focus in this area is to reasonably protect itself from imaginable economic and financial risks. Where possible, the School uses relevant
tools to minimise the impact of these risks on the School‘s operation.

Persisting inflationary pressures present an ongoing financial challenge to the School, especially in the context of the desire to continuously improve the quality of the education delivered, and the need to retain and recruit high caliber teachers from around the world. The School is exploring creative approaches to uncover efficiencies that do not materially impact the programme, but despite this effort, inflation is likely to carry through to tuition increases to retain the quality of the educational programme.

Fees & Donations
ISP is able to provide its educational model not only through the fees it charges but also thanks to the donations it receives. We hope the information below will provide further clarity about the use of fees and donations.

Fees
ISP is a not-for-profit institution in the form of a Czech corporation (an “s.r.o.” - společnost s ručením omezeným” or in English, Limited
Liability Company). Educational regulations in the Czech Republic require that an international school offering a non-Czech curriculum be owned by a non-Czech entity; the non-Czech owner in our case is the International School of Prague Foundation, a U.S. not-for-profit entity (a “501(c)(3)”). This type of non-profit organisation has decades of legal and tax standing in the USA. The foundation document of ISP, for its part, stipulates that no dividends or benefits are to be distributed; all monies the school raises are reinvested in the school, and no profits accrue to any group or individual.

Each year, as with any well-run organisation, the school endeavours to finish the year with a positive financial result. This is planned as part of the budget process. During budget planning, fees (which include both Tuition and Capital Assessment) are set. Tuition is intended to meet the current costs of educating students. The Capital Assessment, for its part, may be used for current year capital expenditures (investment in infrastructure), to assist in retiring of any future debt incurred for the major capital investments of the School, or be allocated to a capital fund to help in the future funding of major strategic investments in the facility.

Although the exact amounts vary annually, payers can expect that most of their overall fees are going towards current-year expenses and planning for the future. For those fees that are not used this year, fees are rolled forward; current families are the beneficiaries of the Capital Assessment paid by prior families, just as future families will be the beneficiaries of the Capital Assessment paid by current families. Funds that are in excess of the above needs may from time to time be placed by a decision of the Trustees into the School’s Endowment.

Donations
Donations are generally received and managed through two entities: Friends of the International School of Prague, z.s.(FoISP) is a not-for-profit association that raises funds in support of the International School of Prague.
The International School of Prague Foundation, Inc. is a US not-for-profit 501(c)3 organisation whose mission is to support education. It is this Foundation that formally owns the School.

In 2023/24 donations received totaled CZK 10,517,060 and USD 8,600. These donations were restricted to one of the following programmes:

• ISP Scholarship Programme: CZK 6,615,100 and USD 8,000 donations to support new scholars to join the International School of Prague.
• ISP Fund: CZK 4,100,460 and USD 600 to allow targeted spending on programmes that enrich the ISP‘s unique learning experience.
• Distinguished Speaker Fund: CZK 1,500 to bring leaders and accomplished professionals to ISP

ISP’s Financial Statements and Annual Report are audited annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit, s.r.o.

Petr Draxler
Chief Operating Officer

Brian Wardrop
Board Treasurer