Prinseschool was founded in 1911 and named after Prince Hendrik of The Netherlands (1876-1934).

At that time it was a primary school for children aged 6 till 12. Historical events, including World War I and World War II, prevented the school from expanding. Nevertheless, the school provided high quality education for many generations.

In 1985, the Prinseschool, like all Dutch schools, was expanded to include an infants department (ages 4–5). The start of a new school management team in 2000 brought significant changes to the school’s organization.

Bilingual education was added to its curriculum, preparing for the so called Anglia Exams. In 2001, an International Department for Dutch students was launched. Under the management of Bert Jansen as Principal, both the population and reputation of the Prinseschool grew considerably. To cope with an increase in pupil numbers, an extension was added to the school.

Since 2007, Prinseschool has been operating on two locations: Prinsestraat and Staringstraat. In 2011 the location Daalweg was added.

Because of its international profile, Prinseschool applied for membership of the Dutch International Primary Schools (DIS) in 2007.

With strong support of the School Board, Consent and the SIO Twente charity, the project ‘International School Twente’ was launched in the academic year 2007/2008.

In March 2008, the Dutch Ministry of Education granted the school permission to start operating. With this license, IST became one of 11 state funded international primary schools spread over The Netherlands.

Start-up funding was granted by the province of Overijssel, the city of Enschede, the Twente region and (through SIO Twente) by companies like Grolsch breweries, Thales, Sensata and others.

The International School Twente opened its doors on August 25^th 2008.