Management
Management of the iDSB
School Board
Jochen Flohn has been head of the iDSB since August 2022. From Paris to Landau to Brussels – Mr Flohn came to the southern Palatinate metropolis of Landau in 2015 as deputy headmaster from the German School in Paris. There he was head of the Max Slevogt Gymnasium, an AbiBac school with a focus on music, art and foreign languages, especially French.
In addition to the natural sciences and mathematics that Mr Flohn teaches, interculturality, linguistic diversity and the musical and artistic offerings are particularly close to his heart.
Rolf Linse has been working at the iDSB since 2020. In recent years, he has been in charge of the middle school. Since the school year 24/25, Mr Linse has been Deputy Headmaster. He teaches German, French and Spanish. Previously, he gained experience at general and vocational grammar schools in Germany and at the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) in California. In recent years, Mr Linse worked at Wirtemberg Gymnasium in Stuttgart, an elite sports and football school that enables young top athletes to combine school and sport. There, he was responsible for the school medical service and the India exchange programme in particular, as well as being a liaison teacher and member of the staff council.
It is particularly important to Mr Linse to see the pupils, rather than his subjects, as the focus of his work and to help them grow into responsible, tolerant and open-minded people and find their own way in life. As a convinced European, he is particularly pleased to now be pursuing this task in the heart of Europe.
Petra van den Beukel has worked in the administration since 2004 and is responsible for Human Resources and Internal Services (including the canteen). Since 2018, she has been entrusted with the management of all administrative business. Before coming to Brussels, Ms van den Beukel worked for many years in the marketing for various large companies in Frankfurt am Main. After 16 years at a school, she can identify very well with the words of A. Lindgren A. Lindgren: “There is no age in which everything is experienced as much as in childhood. We adults should remember what that was like.” Ms van den Beukel is supported by experienced staff in the areas of marketing, finance, personnel, secretariat in KiBi/GS and OS as well as school catering for Bistro & Mensa and facility management.
Extended School Board
Emanuel Imfeld has been Head of Primary School at iDSB since the 2024/25 school year. Prior to this, he had been Deputy Head of Primary School since 2019 and was responsible for planning lessons and substitutions as well as organising educational conferences. During this time, he taught grades 1 to 4 in maths, German, science, music, sport and religion.
His teaching experience at primary schools in Switzerland, Germany and South Africa, as well as his management experience in a bilingual Montessori daycare centre and as deputy head of a primary school, have enabled him to gain valuable experience and expand his skills. His focus is on creating a learning-friendly climate that encourages children to think independently, motivates teachers to create learning environments with joy and passion, and encourages parents to actively participate in school life.
Marina Falcone has been the deputy primary school principal since the 2024/25 school year. Since joining the iDSB in 2020, she has worked as a subject and class teacher in the primary school.
Before her time at iDSB, she gained valuable experience at a primary and secondary school, where she not only worked as a class teacher and contributed to various career orientation projects but also provided advisory support in the areas of inclusion and digitalization. Simultaneously, she led the subject didactics seminar for geography at a teacher training college, where she trained aspiring teachers.
A central aspect of her daily work is promoting the European spirit while fostering social and intercultural competencies.
In August 2023, Jennifer Laumert took over as Head of the Bilingual Kindergarten with Preschool (KiBi). From 2014 to 2023, Ms Laumert worked at the German school abroad in Seoul, South Korea. First as a pedagogical specialist and then, from 2019 to 2023, as the preschool and kindergarten director. During her years in Seoul, she was able to gain a lot of experience in dealing with interculturality and multilingualism.
The focus of her work is always on providing the best possible support and guidance for the children. In close coordination with the pedagogical staff and the families of the kindergarten, but also with the children themselves, the kindergarten should always be a place of discovery, encounter and togetherness, where every child feels comfortable and can develop according to their individual needs.
Marion Montgomery
Deputy Head of the Bilingual Kindergarten with Preschool
Marion Montgomery has been at this school since spring 2006. Previously, kindergarten and preschool were still separate. Mrs Montgomery completed her teacher training in America, so she takes over the English part in the kindergarten group. For the last two years, she has been the KiBi director’s absentee deputy and has now been the deputy director since June. Ms Montgomery has two children, both of whom have gone through the iDSB from kindergarten to high school.
Katharina Zettl has been working at the iDSB since 2020. She teaches business administration, economics and English and is the head of the Fachoberschule (FOS). Previously, she worked for nine years at a vocational school in Hamburg, where she was particularly active in the Berufsoberschule (vocational high school) and in training preparation for migrants as an all-day coordinator, language officer and DSD Pro exam officer. During longer stays abroad in the USA, Spain, South and Central America – among others at the German Ursuline School in Santiago de Chile – Ms Zettl’s heart has been beating for a long time for the foreign school service and the work in a dynamic, motivating, international environment.
In the course of her work with young migrants, Ms Zettl has already gained valuable intercultural experience as well as extensive knowledge in individualised learning. As a certified learning coach and yoga teacher, Ms Zettl is happy to integrate elements of learning coaching, yoga and mindfulness into her teaching.
Karoline Kocher has been working at the iDSB since summer 2015. Before that, she gained experience as a teacher in lower secondary school in Cologne for more than 15 years. She teaches the subjects chemistry, natural sciences, art and performing arts/theatre. At the beginning of 2017, she took over the management of the secondary school at the iDSB. At the same time, she coordinates the final exams within the secondary school.
Mark Osterland has been working at the iDSB since September 2024. He is head of the upper secondary school.
Thomas Leitheiser has been working at the iDSB since 2019. He teaches German and English here and initially headed the upper secondary school; since the 24/25 school year, Mr Leitheiser has been the coordinator for the middle school. Previously, he worked at three different grammar schools in North Rhine-Westphalia and at the German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) in California, USA. In recent years, he has gained organisational experience in the area in which he is now employed at iDSB as Upper School Coordinator at GISSV and subsequently as Head of the bilingual branch and the International Baccalaureate (IB) at Lessing-Gymnasium in Cologne.
Mr Leitheiser is delighted that he can now work as part of the iDSB family in the heart of Europe and is involved in training young people to become convinced Europeans.
Matthias Verdoodt has been working as a Dutch teacher at the iDSB since 2018. He has strengthened the extended school management as coordinator since September 2023 and is interested in languages and creative digitalised lesson design in his professional environment. What Verdoodt particularly likes here is that the work is very student-oriented. Children are not a number here, but a person whose qualities he wants to emphasise. Matthias Verdoodt hopes that he, as coordinator, can get the pupils to think outside the box and help them grow into critical, empathetic young people.
All-day coordination
Annette Farcy is responsible for all-day activities at the primary and secondary school since September 2024.
