Private school Beau Soleil in the Swiss Alps

Location of College Alpin International Beau Soleil

Private school Beau Soleil is one of the best boarding schools in Switzerland I have seen. Having visited the College Alpin International Beau Soleil school, I was absolutely delighted!

The road from Geneva airport to the school took two hours: along the highway along Lake Geneva past Montreux and then 15 kilometers into the mountains to the high-mountain tourist town of Villars. Villars-Sur-Ollon is a thriving alpine town whose economy is supported not only by a mountain resort, but also by the presence of four private schools, two of which are primary and two other are secondary: Prefleuri, La Garenne, Aiglon, and Beau Soleil. Thanks to this neighborhood, hotels, restaurants, and shops of the city receive a constant influx of customers and the resort has no off-season.

The city itself is very pleasant: alpine air, almost always sunny weather, a rich country, happy faces. Vilar is a ski resort, in winter the city is filled with skiers, in summer there are tourists walking along mountain routes, bike tourists, paragliders. There are many alpine lakes near the city, there are fast rivers on which you can go rafting and kayaking. Since the campus of the school is located on alpine terraces, a stunning view of the Alps opens from any window. There are ski lifts 5 minutes from the school.

Program of College Alpin International Beau Soleil

The school runs two programs: IB and French Bacalavreat. It accepts children from 11 to 18 years old, everyone lives at the boarding house From 6th to 8th grade, instruction is in two languages ​​at once. Some of the subjects are studied in English, and some in French, while in the middle of the year the language of instruction in each subject changes for half a trimester, that is, if biology was studied in English, then half of the trimester is studied in French. At the same time, all teachers are bilingual, only the teaching language and textbooks change, the teacher remains the same. In the last years of study, it is necessary to choose a program in which the school will end,

At the same time, instruction in English in grades 11-12 goes according to the IB program, and in 9-10 IGCSE - if the student enrolled in school no older than grade 9. If the student enters immediately into grade 10, then he is offered a 1-year Pre-IB program: the student will take several subjects, which he will teach according to the intensive 1-year IGCSE program with several exams at the end of the year (most often these are languages ​​and mathematics ), and other subjects without passing the exam at the end of the year.

Admission into College Alpin International Beau Soleil, and summer camp.

For admission to the school, it is better to come for an interview at the school, or if the child was in a summer camp and they already know him here, then the interview can be done via Skype. The summer camp is offered for children from 7 to 17 for 4 weeks in July and has its own program for each age. For example, this year the Adrenaline + program was opened for children of 17 years old - a 2-week program that includes daily activities in new extreme sports: paragliding, rafting, mountain biking, badge jumping, military camp, and in the morning learning English or French.

Themed camps are offered for the younger ones, and the theme of the camp changes every year. For example, after lessons, as an entertainment program, there can be scientific experiments, the study of circus tricks, active sports, etc.

The campus of College Alpin International Beau Soleil

The Beau Soleil campus is a multi-story building of the school itself, which houses classrooms, laboratories, lecture and sports halls, a library, and a restaurant, while the upper floors are occupied by a girls' residence, numerous student residences in traditional Swiss chalets that can accommodate from 20 to 40 students each, sports and playgrounds. On the terraces of the main school building, there is an outdoor swimming pool, summer café areas, open-air classrooms in the warm season, other group activities, and entertainment.

Despite the existing rich infrastructure of the school, a lot of construction is underway on the campus. A new school of 10 thousand square meters was built right next to the school building, which will open its doors in September 2017 and where classrooms will be partially moved and partially added.

This construction is taking place on the site of one of the school buildings, where the French section used to be, respectively, this building was demolished and trailers were installed on the territory of the football field, where the missing classes are temporarily located. There are also 2 new modern residences opening, both chalet-style with about 20 students each. For now, high school students will move here, and in the future, it is planned to gradually increase the number of students. In addition, a new arts center is under construction, where children will be able to practice up to 15 types of arts, from painting and design to modeling and robotics, and what's great is a mix of art, design, and technology.

You can take a subject separately, for example, only art, or you can take it by combining these disciplines. Those audiences that are now occupied by art classes will be given and converted into music studios for music and sound recording. If now 235 students study and live at the school, then with the expansion of the school in September 2017, it is planned to gradually increase the number of students to 280.

Despite the extensive sports infrastructure of the school, the sports center of the village is located right next to the school, where students can practice swimming, diving, diving, as well as an ice stadium, where figure skating and ice hockey can be practiced up to a professional level.

Learning as a lifestyle.

The employee of the school that met me and introduced me to the school - Christina - studied at this school, graduated from the university, worked in different companies, but when a vacancy at the school turned up, she happily returned to work here. She spoke with such sincere delight about Beau Soleil, as only a person who was a happy student here and could not wait to return to his native walls can speak. I saw the students of all ages, and I read from their faces that these are not spoiled bored children, but enthusiastic and purposeful individuals, for whom the active rhythm of school everyday life is a joy.

On the timetable, I saw which educational trips are offered by the school for the coming months: for 9th-grade students - a week in June on a safari in Tanzania, 10th grade - an adventure week in the Dominican Republic with scuba diving, IB students will spend a week in London studying the history of Great Britain on a weeklong trip in June or Cultural Heritage of Italy a week in late May. School students who participate in Red Square will represent the school at a conference in South Africa next September.

Despite the fact that the word International appears in the name of the school, there are also Swiss children at the school. At the same time, since life at the school is very busy, all children, even Swiss families, live at the boarding house.
The school employs 130 people of staff, of which 80 are teachers, with a very high percentage of teachers (1 teacher for 4 students). At the same time, all teachers and all students, are fluent in two languages ​​- English and French.