Geneva, in Switzerland, has been the home of many international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Geneva became the natural home for the International Schools Association in 1951, after teaching staff at the International School of Geneva felt the need to set up an association for teachers concerned about representing a growing number of international schools, in need of a standard teaching programme which would be taught in schools in different parts of the world.

Today there are around 50 schools throughout the world. The members are mostly teaching programmes connected to the IB system, first produced by ISA or the Cambridge curriculum. Schools can be national schools following a national programme with access to international programmes, heritage schools such as the worldwide British Schools, Australian Schools, French Schools, German Schools or international schools with students from multiple nations. They all have to be actively involved in encouraging intercultural understanding. Among its members are the world’s first international schools – the International School of Geneva (Switzerland) and the Yokohama International School (Japan).