SIS Basel or ISB?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
I've recently toured both the SIS Basel and ISB. Kids are 12 and 13 and only speak English. Prefer the bilingual program at the SIS, but worry it will be a difficult transition. Also, there are no recent online reviews of the school. Would appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

2
Different schools, different styles. I know kids who have been happier at SIS than ISB and vice-versa.

3
There's also Academia in Basel, bilingual until 14 then all instruction in English (apart from languages obviously).

4
If you dont intend to stay, don't put the stress of simultaneous language learning on the kids.

5
I would love some feedback also on the SIS. There are some awful replies from previous forums, so I am looking for a more up to date one. We have enrolled out daughter to start this year, after visiting we received a lovely welcome and a friendly feeling. And I never asked them is it a non profit organisation, and does this really matter? anyone give me some feedback?

6
Don't know about the Basel one, but I hear mostly very good things about the Zurich SIS schools.

The bad things I hear are the usual parent gripes which can be for any school.

7
To the Solothurn poster: I agree about the lovely welcome and a friendly feeling. While the ISB had beautiful facilities, the SIS seemed warmer to me. Perhaps I projected this feeling as I toured the school knowing I'd like my kids to experience the bilingual environment. This will be a permanent relocation, so my goal is for our family to fully immerse ourselves into the Swiss language and culture.

How old is your daughter? Also, how long would the commute from Solothurn be to the SIS? We are still in the States, but I've seen photos of Solothurn online and the area looks beautiful. Is it easily accessible to public transportation? Sorry for the non-school-related questions.

8
solothurn is around one hour without traffic. Easy enough and solothurn is beautiful.

9
SIS is a "for profit" organisation. ISB was created by and for the multinational companies.

10
If you are looking at Solothurn there is also the international school of Solothurn:

http://is-so.ch

11

Welcome to the forum. The question is how are you coming here? For work purposes for you or your spouse and if so is your spouse also a non-EU national? If this is the case then you have to live in the same canton that the main permit holder’s workplace is based in. If this is Basel then that’s where you have to live.

You can try and ask if Solothurn and Basel cantons will allow you to change cantons, but they may well say no.

If your spouse is an EU national and the main permit holder then you can more easily live in Solothurn if you want to, assuming it’s a long term position they’ll get a B permit which allows living in other cantons.

12
My child is already in the solothurn international school. We are moving to Basel, and that is why I asked about the school there.

13
My husband, also American, has been offered a permanent position in Basel. We were hoping for a commute under 30 minutes, so looks like Solothurn is too far from Basel.

14

As said, you’re restricted to Basel canton unless you can get permission from both cantons for the move.

15
Which school did you ultimately choose for your kids?

16
SWISSgoose, I'd also love to hear which int'l school you ultimately chose and how the last 2 years have gone. Thanks!