International Schools: Zug or Zurich?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Does anyone have an opinion on either of these schools? My kids will be entering grades 5, 8 and 10 in August.

2
if you search the forums you will find all sorts of info and opinions. the short answer is that ISZL markets itself to Brits, and ZIS to Americans. the demographics are roughly the same at both schools in all other respects, e.g. same mix of other nationalities, but the administration and philosophies of the schools are more or less in line with the short answer.

this is not meant as a negative about either school, btw, we are Americans and our kids all go to ISZL and love it. I don't have any experience with the schools other than ISZL and ZIS.

3
If your kids are a bit dim, then private school is the way to go.

Smart kids don't need hand holding and go to regular kindergarten/school.

4
the numbers above are grades, not years of age. something about people in glass houses comes to mind.

5
The kids ages will be 10-16 hardly kindergarten

Based on other quotes this person is a bit dim themselves or only interested in demonstrating a total lack of respect for others opinions

6
We chose ZIS because we liked the administrative people much better that showed us around. We also agree more with the overall philosophy of the school. My advice is to visit them, with your kids if possible, and see how they feel to all of you. Good luck!!

7
Our two eldest have been at ISZL for 5 years now, and they love it there and we have been very happy with the school.

During this time between them we have experienced grades 4-11 and have been impressed (especially with the middle and high school). The facilities and opportunities available to the kids are amazing.

I'm sure ZIS is also very good and your choice may come down to where you decide to live.

My youngest is in the Swiss school system, which is also very good, but she was young enough to start in the Kindergarten. I think starting in the Swiss system with no German at the grades that your kids are in would be very difficult.

8
Both schools are really good schools. Also, both schools have excellent admin team and wonderful dedicated teachers.

I think you should take a decision mainly according to the following:

1) SBB travel plan and what is easiest for your children commuting.

2) Are your children gifted or talented or have special needs in a certain area, check with both schools and see what they offer for your childs` specific needs.

3) ZIS middle school is not a MYP school. If your a big fan of IB MYP and really believe in it then ZIS might not be the place for your child. I like IB MYP idea in general and I think it`s a brilliant philosophy. I also like ZIS middle school curriculum, very strong program that bridge between upper school and middle school nicely and neatly.

Good luck on your move"

9
You would need to check if they have space (if you havent already). My understanding is that as you go up the grades less students leave and consequently it can be harder to obtain a place.

Mine are at ZIS in the lower school. They are very happy and motivated to go to school every day.

ZIS is rather American I would agree but they also have a high proportion of Swiss students (according to admissions) and the really promote good are caring behaviour by the students.

10
Another option is ISOCS in Cham. isocs.ch

11
You clearly get pleasure out of being as asshole.

12
Also check out ICSZ in Zumikon, although it's on the other side of the lake from the other two.

13
I also heard good stuff about them, but i've been told you may need to justify why your kids need to go to international school

http://www.icsz.ch/

Otherwise you need to find a private school eg. Kusnacht bilingual, Terra nova ( http://www.terra-nova.ch/ )

14
My 3 children have attended both ISZL and ZIS and had good things to say about both schools. Neither is perfect but here is what we observed:

-More active parent network/more parent involvement at ZIS

-Stronger focus on technology at ZIS

-More diverse student population at ISZL

-ISZL seems to draw kids from wider geographic area than ZIS...this can be challenging as getting kids together after school requires more/longer driving

We live closer to Zurich so the proximity of the ZIS campuses were much more convenient for us. I believe there is a waiting list for many grades at ZIS...don't know about ISZL.

I'm sure you would be happy with either as both are good schools.

15
This is a really weird website!

It's like someone has written it in a language that is not English and then google translated it!