Diplomatic relations

SIS was honoured to welcome the US Ambassador to Sweden during October. Christine Toretti, who took up the post a year ago, was making her first visit to the School, which plays such an important role in supporting American families in Stockholm.

The School’s relationship with the US Embassy and the US community in the city dates back to its foundation 75 years ago. At one point, SIS was actually known as the Anglo-American School.

Times have changed meanwhile, and so has the School. The Ambassador and her party were impressed with the facilities in Norra Latin, and to learn of the ambitious renovation involved in bringing the building back into use as a school in 2023. Her keen interest in art was clear as Advancement Director, Emma Jones, explained the significance and provenance of the murals that adorn the building.

Her attention was also grabbed by the creativity and energy of the SPC volunteers who were busily decorating the aula for Halloween festivities. The sense of community involvement was inescapable.

The priority for the embassy is that the US families sending the children to SIS have as smooth a transition as possible when they relocate to Stockholm, and that they feel their children will be in a safe environment with high-quality learning. The Ambassador visited classrooms briefly to see lessons in progress and take in the varied spaces from the gym, to wet labs, to theatre, and regular teaching arrangements. She also noted SIS’s emphasis on security and our full-time team of experienced specialists in that area.

As SIS looks to the future, our alliance with the US diplomatic community is sure to be an enduring part of our next 75 years, just as it has been in the decades since its foundation.