Director

Bryan Nixon joined the BIS leadership team in August 2003 as the deputy head and curriculum coordinator of the Lower School. In August 2005, he became the Lower School Principal and, from July 2008, Bryan has been appointed as the Director.

Originally from Newtownards in Northern Ireland, Bryan is married to Tara and is the proud father of three children: Siobhan, Ruari and Niamh.  Bryan has been involved in education for 16 years as a classroom teacher, a curriculum coordinator and as a Principal. Previously, he worked as a curriculum coordinator at St. Andrew's School, The International School of The Bahamas, where he guided the school through the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) authorization process.

As an official IBPYP workshop leader for the last 10 years, Bryan has been presenting educational workshops throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States and Canada.

Business Director

Marco Dahl joined BIS in July 2006 relocating from northern Germany’s Düsseldorf region. He studied Economics and gathered work experience all over Germany until he found his home with BIS.

Starting to support the Accounting/Controlling Department at BIS he established a strong relationship with the schools at BIS and became a responsible team member together with the Principals in planning the whole school Timetable. He also became the contact person for all government related issues and got involved in most areas around and within the school. In 2009 Marco joined the BIS Leadership Team as Financial & Educational Services Controller.

Marco enjoys travelling around the world and is proud member of a small social project running a Kindergarten/Pre-School in the Gambia, West Africa.

IT & Facilities Director

Thomas Singbartl started at BIS in January 2006 as IT Manager. In 2008 he joined the BIS leadership team with responsibilty for the Campus infrastructure and instructional technology.

Thomas is Bavarian, a native of Munich, and married to Gudrun with two children - Hannah and Moritz - keeping him busy at home.

Coming from BurdaYukom Publishing, a corporate publishing house, where he worked before as IT Manager, he set up IT at BIS to be ready for a modern, state of the art educational learning infrastructure.

head of Human Resources

Veronika Maerkl is a native of Munich, a city that she has never grown tired of. She is a real Munich fan who loves the lifestyle, traditions, and cultural offerings of the city, as well as the proximity to Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.

During her training for a career in the hotel industry she concentrated on the area of Human Resources and Labour Law.  Upon completing her studies, she went to work for the Arabella/Sheraton Hotels, where she spent 15 years, and was promoted to the position of Area Personnel Manager for eight Bavarian hotels. In 2002 Veronika Märkl joined BIS, where she assumed the role of Head of Human Resources.

In her rare moments of spare time she enjoys reading, cooking, skiing and inline skating. Travelling is her passion, and she aspires to visit all continents of the world in her lifetime.

 

Lower School Principal

Kathy Slocombe joined the BIS leadership team at the start of the 2008/2009 academic year when she was appointed as the Lower School Principal.

Kathy originally comes from the south of England and studied her Bachelor of Education with Honours degree for primary teaching in London, qualifying in 1990. She joined us from Tanzania where her position was Head of Primary at the International School Moshi. Kathy has also taught in the UK, New Zealand, The Netherlands and Spain before joining us in Germany. This is her third primary principal position.

Kathy is married to Chris and their daughter Emily recently gained a place at the BRIT School in London where she is studying Musical Theatre alongside her GCSE’s. Kathy enjoys playing tennis, reading, music and travel and has a house on the Costa Blanca in Spain so that she can enjoy her holidays in the sun in her own house.

Lower School Assistant Principal

Angela Hoelzl was appointed Assistant Principal and Curriculum Coordinator of the Lower School in 2006. She first joined BIS in 2004 as a Grade 3 classroom teacher and has been actively involved in the Lower School curriculum development ever since. In 2004 she became an official IBPYP workshop leader. Angela has gone on to facilitate in-school workshops, regional workshops and participate in school visits throughout the Europe region.

Angela is well accustomed to living in Munich having previously worked at Munich International School and being married to Hubert, who is a native Bavarian. She has two children, Laura and Alexander and both children are bilingual. Originally Angela comes from Manchester in England and first came to live in the Munich area in 2001. She studied for her Bachelor of Education with Honours in Liverpool and went on to teach in an inner city school in Manchester before moving to Germany.

Middle School Principal

Simon Walker joined the BIS leadership team at the start of academic year 2008/2009 when appointed as Middle School Principal.

Originally from Scotland, Simon trained as a secondary school teacher of History and Modern Studies, and gained experience in a number of schools before undertaking senior posts leading pastoral care. In 2003 Simon moved to Tokyo, Japan where he led the development of a new secondary school in the post as Head teacher. In 2008 Simon successfully gained the National Professional Qualification for Headship which is now a compulsory qualification for Headteachers in England.

In his spare time Simon attempts to find the time to enjoy his many other pleasures in life including reading, travel, golf, football, tennis and distance running.

Middle School Assistant Principal/ Curriculum Coordinator

Brett Meuli joined the BIS leadership team in 2010 as Middle School Assistant Principal and MYP Coordinator having previously held a variety of leadership and teaching posts in New Zealand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Brett has a Bachelor of Arts in History and an Associate Degree in Social Sciences. He has worked extensively for the IBO in the Asia Pacific region as a workshop leader, moderator and schools visitor.

Originally from New Plymouth in New Zealand, Brett is happily married to Julie and away from school he enjoys football, biking, reading, distance running, travel and anything to do with consumer electronics.

upper school Principal

Julie Hessler joined the BIS Leadership Team in 2007/2008, bringing over 30 years of experience in education to her post as Upper School principal.

Originally from South Africa, she began her career as a teacher of English, Afrikaans, and Social Studies.  Over the years, she has worked in schools in Canada, Singapore, Ethiopia, Brunei, Columbia, and most recently, at the Guangya IB School in Sichuan, China, where she was the Founding Principal.

Julie's wide range of interests include reading, writing, education, community service, theatre, music, philosophy, cultures and customs, travel, nature, gardening and mythology.

Assistant Principal and IB Diploma Coordinator

Adrian von Wrede-Jervis is the Assistant Principal and IB Diploma Coordinator in the Upper School. In his capacity as Assistant Principal, he is in charge of the large structure whole school timetabling process. He also oversees the Upper School reporting process and produces the data for the close monitoring of student performance in the Upper School. His main role as IB Diploma Coordinator involves the support and mentoring of all IB Diploma students, to this end he works to ensure that they have a balanced set of subjects which reflect their strengths, with a view to their future careers. He also administers the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme as a whole.
Originally from the UK, a chemistry graduate from Leeds University, he has built most of his teaching experience in the Essex and Southend-on-Sea area where latterly he was Director of the Science Faculty in a grammar school, he has also taught in Estonia and South Africa.
He is married to Ulrike (who is a German Namibian), and his two young sons, Danik and Xander. In his free time he loves camping, hill walking and bird watching (though he more of a birder than a twitcher).