History

The International Christian School of Vienna (ICSV) was founded in 1986 to support Christian missionary families serving in Eastern Europe. The 40 years since have been a story of God’s provision including four different school sites and a name change. Today, ICSV serves 340 students from over 65 countries and is about to break ground on a new school building project that has been 8 years in the making! 

Wise Leadership

Tim Shuman kindly connected me with Siebert (Seppie) Myburgh, ICSV’s Director. Seppie is a wise and purposeful leader who has served at Morrison Academy in Taiwan and multiple schools in his home country of South Africa. In preparation for my visit, Seppie planned a whole day of meetings with the members of the ICSV admin team who graciously shared their time. As a result the stories and learning that I experienced at ICSV were second to none. Here are just a few highlights from my visit. 

Highlights

At the risk of boring you with leadership theory, one of the highlights of my visit to ICSV was the abundance of inclusive and transformational leadership that I experienced. Inclusive and transformational leadership are different yet connected styles which I believe are key to building a strong school culture in 2025 and beyond. The admin team at ICSV involve their team members in decision making, seek feedback, use iterative processes, cast vision, inspire, and lead by example. 

Throughout my visit I enjoyed hearing powerful testimonies of how God has built ICSV, one staff member, one family, one story, and one year at a time. If we take time to reflect, we all have stories to share about what God has done in our lives and our schools. Be brave, share these stories with your community and other schools. They can galvanize the community and encourage other schools on their journey. 

Let me tell you just one story of what God has done at ICSV. As I mentioned earlier, this fall ICSV plans to break ground on a new campus construction project which has been 8 years in the making. The Building Hope project began in 2017 when ICSV made moves to acquire a neighboring plot of land. Throughout an incredible process which included competing for purchasing rights, a pandemic, growing construction costs, and favor in the eyes of a neighbouring business owner, God has provided mightily for ICSV. Hopefully, ICSV will open the doors of their purpose-built facility with capacity for 600 students at the start of the 2027/28 school year. When they do, they will have quite the testimony to share! 

Elementary Principal, Sandy Siratt, taught me about the importance of “honoring your staff”. This saying and underlying philosophy resonated with me and will be one that I continue to use in my leadership. As a school leader, think about how powerful it would be if, day by day, you sought to honor your staff, putting them before yourself, and looking out for their good. Thank you, Sandy, keep up the great work. 

Chaplain, Danny Jack, shared about the value of holistically staffing for Christian schools, including spiritual formation or wellness roles. Whether or not you work in a Christian school environment, you can understand the value of considering staffing more holistically. Roles that can support this type of learning and wellbeing for staff and students include chaplain, spiritual director, wellness director, dean of pastoral care, and spiritual counsellor. Danny also shared the idea of developing a theology of work for schools starting with asking the question, “How do we think about our work and operate in light of being Christians?” This is something that comes from the church ministry world and certainly has value in Christian schools.

3* Key Takeaways

• Fervent Feedback: Seek and action strategic feedback for the betterment of the community. This is one of ICSV’s greatest strengths. How can you improve your feedback channels this school year?  
• Boost Buy-In: Purposefully including teachers in key processes like strategic decision making builds buy-in. How might including teachers benefit some of your school’s strategic decisions? 
• Hold Fast In Faith: Prepare your field for rain and have steadfast faith that God will follow through on the vision that He has given you. What has God spoken to you about that you should be preparing for rain? 
• *Honorary 4th Takeaway – It Takes A Village To Grow The Village: School building projects require great vision and buy-in from the school community. What steps can you take to communicate the right vision for your school community?  

Build culture, unlock potential. Visit my Connect Page or send a message on LinkedIn. 

Stay tuned for more international school visits – up next some of the top international schools in Asia!

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah 

References

ICSV. (2025). Building Hope. https://icsv.at/buildinghope/#theproject

ICSV. (2025). Home. https://www.icsv.at/