International School of Geneva

The International School of Geneva
The International School of Geneva
Location
	Geneva, Grand Saconnex & Founex; Switzerland
Information
Type	Day School
Religious affiliation(s)	No religious affiliation
Established	1924
Director-General	Dr. Nicholas Tate (until June 2011) Mrs Vicky Tuck (from July 2011)
Enrollment	3940
Color(s)	Navy Blue and White
Athletics	Rugby, Football, Skiing, Cross Country, Basketball, Lacrosse, Horseback Riding, Track and Field
Website	www.ecolint.ch

The International School of Geneva (in French: Ecole Internationale de Genève), also known as Ecolint, is a private international school based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the oldest currently operating International School in the world. The International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which most English-speaking students at the school follow, was created at the Grande Boissière campus. It is a bilingual school, with instruction in both French and English. Ecolint's current Director General is Dr. Nicholas Tate. The International School is a testing center for the US college boards (SAT, ACT, etc.), as well as the British IGCSE exam. The International School is now composed of three separately governed campuses in and around Geneva.^[1]

In 2006, the British Guardian newspaper listed it as one of the best UK-curriculum international schools in the world.^[2] The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group.

According to the Good Schools Guide International, "Students receive a truly international education and as a result leave as rounded and worldly young people."^[3]

History

From 1920 to 1921 the League of Nations and the International Labor Office, established their headquarters in Geneva. In 1924 the International School of Geneva was founded by senior members of two international organizations, in conjunction with Adolphe Ferrière and Elisabeth Rotten.^[1]

Ferrière housed the first class in his family's chalet. He was also technical adviser to the school from 1924 to 1926. Other prominent individuals involved in the creation of the School were Arthur Sweetser and Dr. Ludwig Rajchman. They were supported by William Rappard, Rector of the University of Geneva and Sir Arthur Salter, a senior official of the League of Nations.

The foundation continued to evolve as it acquired new campuses in the Vaud countryside at La Châtaigneraie (also called "La Chat") near Founex and at Prégny (near the European Headquarters of the United Nations). A sports hall was built in 1977 and a new primary building was built in 1980 on the Châtaigneraie campus. In 1993 a sciences building was built and in 2002 the old "La Ferme" building, which used to house the girls' boarding lodgings, became the music building. The new multimedia library (known as Multi Media Center or MMC) was finished in September 2001, adding a third floor to what is known as the "New Building" (NB). In September 2008, the new sports hall was opened, replacing the long-defunct swimming pool, the aging "Bubble", which was inflated in 2000 to protect from harsh climates, and the old PTA offices. This was achieved with the financial help of the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation.

The third campus, Campus des Nations has had two beginnings. The first was in the 1940s with Rigot which became Pregny-Rigot, the second in 2005 with the closure of Rigot and the opening of Saconnex. The Pregny-Rigot campus was a pre-K through year 6 school that adopted the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program in 2002. This campus had two buildings, Rigot which was an old Swiss farmhouse just off Place des Nations housing the early childhood classes, the other a unique architectural structure up the hill from the United Nations and Red Cross which hosted the primary school and learning center. In 2005, Pregny-Rigot shifted with the opening of a new building, Saconnex, near the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization. The early childhood classes at Rigot were moved to a renovated Pregny and Rigot was returned to the city of Geneva. Years 3-6 were moved from Pregny to the new building, Saconnex, which also opened a secondary school. The Secondary school offers the IB's Middle Years Program and the IB Diploma. Additional construction will commence on a sports center and post-16 Learning Center.

Campuses

La Grande Boissière (also called "LGB") is the oldest and largest of the three. Primary School (beginning from age three) has 650 students, and runs through grade 4. The Middle School has 450 students, and runs from grade 5 to grade 8. The Secondary School has 650 students, beginning with 9th grade and going to grade 12 or 13. All three stages offer bilingual programs. Campus Principal: Jean Guy Carpentier. (46°11′55″N 6°10′21″E / 46.19861°N 6.17250°E / 46.19861; 6.17250)

La Châtaigneraie (also called "La Chat") became part of Ecolint in 1971 and is located in the Vaud countryside, near Founex and overlooks the Alps and Lake Léman. It has a primary and a secondary school, and has approximately 1420 students. The oldest building on campus is the main secondary building and it was completed in 1908, when La Châtaigneraie opened. It is the only campus to offer the Swiss Maturité Fédérale, the Swiss certificate of the end of Secondary Education (46°20′23″N 6°10′18″E / 46.33972°N 6.17167°E / 46.33972; 6.17167)

Campus des Nations, (also simply called "Nations") opened in 2005 and operates on two locations in and in the vicinity of Grand Saconnex:

Saconnex is located near the International Labour Organization and World Health Organization headquarters. Saconnex offers classes to 700 students from years 3 through 13. All classes taught at Nations are provided by the IB, consisting of PYP, MYP and DP.^[1](46°13′51″N 6°07′46″E / 46.23083°N 6.12944°E / 46.23083; 6.12944)
Pregny is located near the United Nations and Red Cross and is a school of 220 students from pre-school, kindergarten to year 2.^[1](46°13′51″N 6°08′20″E / 46.23083°N 6.13889°E / 46.23083; 6.13889)

Notable alumni

Harry Albright, Journalist and former Editor of The Friend, shared in the Michener Award in 1991.
Shadi Bartsch, Ann L. and Lawrence B. Buttenwieser Professor of Classics at the University of Chicago.
Gail Carpenter - Professor, Boston University, Director of the Cognitive and Neural Systems Technology Laboratory.^[4]^[5]
David Chardavoyne - American attorney, professor, and author.
Chehab Family Members - Prominent Lebanese aristocracy, descendants of the last Emirs of Lebanon, closely related to Lebanese President Fuad Chehab.
Richard Corbett - Member of the European Parliament.
Joe Dassin - French-speaking American musician, famous for singing Les Champs-Élysées.
Michael Douglas - Oscar-winning and Emmy Award-nominated American actor and producer.
Elizabeth Frank - Pulitzer Prize winning author.
Indira Gandhi- Former Prime Minister of India.
Ronald M. George - Chief Justice, California Supreme Court.
Douglas Hofstadter - Pulitzer Prize winning author, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science, Indiana University in Bloomington, Director of the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition.
Mieko Kamiya - Japanese psychiatrist and writer.
Yasmin Aga Khan - Daughter of Prince Aly Khan and Rita Hayworth.
Rami G. Khouri - Journalist, internationally syndicated columnist, director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star and co-laureate of the 2006 Pax Christi International Peace Award.^[4]^[6]
Riad al Khouri, Economist; Dean of the Business School, the Lebanese French University, Erbil, Iraq; Senior Economist, the William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, USA
Christopher Lambert - French actor famous from films such as Highlander and Greystoke.
Eric Margolis - prominent journalist.
Joakim Noah - NCAA division 1 basketball MVP of the final four 2006
Olivier Perez - Swiss actor
Bob Rae - 21st Premier of Ontario, and the first leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) to serve in that capacity.
Tatiana Santo Domingo - Colombian socialite heiress to a beer and airline empire.
H. Norman Schwarzkopf - Retired U.S. Army General and Commander of U.S. and coalition forces for Operation Desert Storm. Attended high school for one year, in which he mastered the French language, a language that later got him a key advisor job in the South Vietnam Airborne in 1965-66.
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand (Srikit Kitiyakara).
Albert Sjoerdsma, Jr. - Playwright; some of his plays have been produced on Broadway.^[7]
Kellogg Stelle - Professor of Physics, Theoretical Physics Group, Imperial College, London.^[8]
Mark Trueblood - American engineer and astronomer. He is noted for early pioneering work in the development of robotic telescopes.

Languages offered

While the school itself offers its curriculum in English, French or bilingual programs, it offers some other foreign languages such as Spanish, German, Italian as part of the curriculum. Swedish, Japanese, Swahili, Finnish and other foreign languages are available via private tuition but can be counted towards credits; this route is often chosen by students who have little other opportunity to learn their mother tongue. The two curricula for the different language programs are, in theory identical, other than the fact that they are in two different languages and ultimately lead to two different diplomas, with the English language program leading to the International Baccalaureate (or a High School Certificate with graduation one year earlier), and the French language program leading to the Swiss Maturité Fédérale. However, the International Baccalaureate bi-lingual section also offers a vast array of its courses in French.