Steve Ellis

Visionary international school leader with 30 years of senior leadership experience across Europe and Asia. Expertise includes strategic leadership, accreditation, curriculum development, and staff recruitment within IB World Schools and Cambridge/Pearson Edexcel contexts. Skilled in navigating schools through accreditation, relocation, and periods of crisis. Dedicated to fostering inclusive, high-performing learning environments that empower students to thrive.

• More than 30 years of senior leadership experience across six international schools in Europe and Asia, including roles as Head of School, Secondary Principal, Head of Secondary, Deputy Director, Head of Seniors, and Middle School Principal.
• Significant experience in IB World Schools, including leadership of the PYP–MYP–DP continuum, MYP authorisation, MYP/DP evaluation processes, and successful implementation of the Middle Years Programme at Danube International School, Vienna.
• Strong background in Cambridge Assessment and Pearson Edexcel international education contexts, alongside extensive experience in curriculum, assessment, programme evaluation, and transition leadership across primary, middle, and senior school phases.
• Proven ability to lead whole-school improvement, strategic planning, operational development, organisational change, and complex transitions, including school relocation, post-pandemic recovery, political instability, and major operational disruption.
• Successfully guided Myanmar International School through CIS Membership during the first year as Head of School and led CIS Membership, CIS/NEASC accreditation preparation, and visiting team processes in other contexts.
• Experienced in working effectively with Boards of Trustees, Boards of Directors, owners, directors, senior leaders, parents, staff, and students, with outstanding feedback from Board/Owner, parent, student, and teacher 360-degree surveys.
• Provided calm, community-focused leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the military coup in Myanmar, maintaining continuity of learning, community confidence, and organisational stability.
• Maintained outstanding IBDP results, consistently well above world averages, within a non-selective admissions context.
• Recruited, evaluated, mentored, supported, and retained highly effective faculty, while developing professional learning communities to strengthen collaboration, professional dialogue, and instructional improvement.
• Strengthened pastoral systems, student wellbeing, restorative practices, inclusive school culture, digital learning systems, and school transfers to new facilities while sustaining learning quality and community trust.

• CIS Membership leadership as Head of School
• CIS/NEASC Accreditation Steering Committee Chair
• CIS and NEASC accreditation preparation and visiting team processes
• CIS Preliminary Visit — Chandigarh, October 2022
• CIS visits — International School of Monaco, 2001; International School of London, 2003
• CIS & NEASC Preliminary Visit Training, February 2019
• NEASC A.C.E. Protocol Training, Geneva, February 2018
• IB MYP Authorisation Leadership
• IB MYP and DP Evaluation Visit Leadership, 2010 – 2018

• Education Coach / Mentoring Training, September 2023 – June 2024
• CIS Leadership Development — Career & Recruitment Workshop, Bangkok, November 2019
• ManageBac Diploma Programme Certificate, Level 1, London, 2018
• NEASC A.C.E. Protocol Training, Geneva, February 2018
• IBAEM Regional Conference, The Hague, Netherlands, 2018
• ManageBac Regional Conference, The Hague and Berlin, 2016 & 2017
• Rethinking Appraisal — Principal’s Training Centre, Miami, 2014
• ECIS Leadership Conference, Vienna, 2009; Berlin, 2013
• ORIS Visible Learning Workshop, Hattie, London, 2011
• IB Middle Years Programme Training — Coordination, Warwick, 2011
• Apple Education World Summit, Prague, 2010
• Aspiring Heads — Association of International School Heads, Miami, 2009
• Teaching with the Brain in Mind — ASCD Conference, New Orleans, 2004
• International Schools Assessment Workshop, Berlin, 2002
• New Directions in Appraisal Workshop, The Hague, 2001
• ECIS Accreditation Training Workshop, Nice, November 2000