United Lisbon International School appoints Martin Harris as executive director
The United Lisbon International School (ULIS) has appointed Mr. Martin Harris as Executive Director to lead the school through its next phase of growth into a 1,000 children school.
A distinguished educator, Martin has had an extensive experience of 19 years as Head of 2 different schools in the UK prior to arriving in Portugal – specifically at Sandroyd School in Wiltshire and Cheam School in Berkshire.
Martin is also a Governor of St. Mary’s Calne School in Wiltshire. Most recently he has been helping to grow ULIS, a relatively new 3-18 international school in East Lisbon’s Parque das Nações district.
Founded by Chitra and Roman Stern in September 2020, the school now boasts a truly international student body of more than 620 students and 85 teachers from more than 50 different nationalities.
“Apart from focusing on building out the real estate, we have certainly given much attention to building up the educational team of the school,” says Chitra Stern, founder and board member.
“As ULIS has grown over the last 4 years, we have focused on bringing great people on board as Head of School, Elementary Principal, Secondary Principal, Director of Technology, Director of Student Welfare and Wellbeing, and IBDP Coordinator. While we have faced the challenges of a post-COVID era in our sector too, we have managed to bring together a fantastic multi-national team with several years of international experience. The senior leadership team is certainly diverse, which contributes to United Lisbon’s strength as an international school,” she said.
“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Martin Harris as Executive Director of ULIS.
“Martin Harris has clearly focused on getting to know all the members of the ULIS community in the first days he has been at ULIS – walking around the school greeting people, making time for one-on-one meetings, as well as greeting parents and children at the school’s gate every morning,” adds Chitra Stern.
“I am excited to be here at ULIS at this moment in the development of the school — there is the well documented expansion of the campus which will provide world class facilities.
However, a school is all about the people within its community. I have enjoyed meeting the children who come into school every day with a great sense of purpose and positivity.
The teachers I have met so far are all excellent and committed to the holistic education of our children to enable them to succeed as intelligent, kind and happy people in tomorrow’s world. I am ambitious for them individually and for the school as a whole.
I am enjoying getting to know each and every child by meeting them at the gate in the mornings, chatting in the playground and in the classrooms it is also important to ensure that their educational journey is the best it can be.
We have some exciting plans for the coming years in every area of the school from enhancing the curriculum to increasing sports and creative opportunities for all .
The final key ingredient in our school community is the parent body who I am meeting over coffee and further social events during the coming weeks,”said Martin Harris.
Apart from being a recognised International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) school and a member of the Council of International Schools (CIS), ULIS recently received the good news that it is now a candidate school for the NEASC accreditation. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) is a global accreditation body based in Massachusetts the US which promotes high quality education for all students through accreditation, professional assistance, and pursuit of best practices.
