We are moving to Geneva later on this year. I am looking at Ecolint and CDL for my two daughers - ages 7 and 11. We have lived in Montreal for the past 4 years and both girls are fluent in French and English. I’d appreciate any insights into the two schools - academic programs, social activities, facilities, etc. Many thanks.
I assume by considering CDL you are looking at the Ecolint La Châtaigneraie campus. We have experience with the Campus des Nations campus but have heard that the La Châtaigneraie campus is more anglophone and CDL is more francophone. CDL is famous (notorious?) for rich kids and Ecolint (apart from the La Grande Boissière campus) less so.
In general you will find that you pay more but get less as compared to Montreal (we were there many moons ago) and we were concerned at first at the level of discipline but overall it has turn out to be fine.
We are actually looking at the LGB campus for Ecolint, as we really enjoyed urban living in Montreal. We want to consider more than one school as we understand space is limited in all schools. My older girl is a bit shy and would probably do better in a smaller or more welcoming place. The second one is very social. We'd like them to have a smooth transition (as much as possible) and of course, to fit in. Any thoughts on either school? are kids more spoiled in CDL - per your comments about it being known for rich families. Also, would appreciate comments about the academic programs, diversity mix up? Many thanks.
CDL is College du Leman in Versoix, nothing to do with Ecolint or Chat.
Both CDL and La Chat are on the right side of the lake whereas LGB is on the left side. I thought by considering CDL, Daises is looking at schools on the right side.
Daises
Apologies for the late response. If you live on the left side and have children going to schools on the right side e.g. CDL, the travel will be tiring for them. Traffic on the Mont Blanc bridge in the morning is bad so you will be better off looking at LGB. LGB also have rich kids but I have colleagues who have children there and they seem happy. I also have colleagues who have children in CDL and again they seemed satisfied so I would choose on the basis of whether you want a Francophone or Anglophone environment. LGB would be less Anglophone than La Chat.
On the academic side, Ecolint schools are pretty similar and while we had concerns in the beginning about discipline, it seem to have worked out well. On facilities, you will find that it is not as good as private schools in Montreal. On the social side, because there are many children joining and leaving each year, the kids are used to it and at least in our experience accept new comers readily.