Well, he'll turn 12 in March and I find it unlikely that the company will be able to get us moved by then. Honestly, my hope is that he can finish the school year here in the US and then move out during the summer break (which seems to sync up nicely between the US and Switzerland.)

My only concern with him repeating is he's actually in accelerated math courses now -- he'll be done with eighth grade math at the end of this year. I'd hate to see him have to take a huge step backwards. Does anyone know if Swiss schools have accelerated courses for gifted students?

Hi There,

Switzerland is one of the most stable countries on planet earth. Every child has a right to go to school and this right is taken very seriously indeed - to the point that parents are fined heavily if the child does not attend for a day without a viable excuse. Please don't send your child to Swiss school as she will simply not be able to cope with irate parents who are ready to pop her into an overpriced play school for young adults as soon as she fails to make friends. When the International School comes up with the excuse that your child is on a waiting list, simply make it known that you are considering putting your child in another International School. Hey presto, a place will then be guaranteed. International Schools cannot afford to say no to any client as they receive no funding from the Swiss Government. This is because they have never been able to prove that they are anything more than businesses disguised as trusts. They are simply tolerated in this country as are all businesses. Swiss state schools are not businesses. All teachers are civil servants. Every child in Swiss state schools has the opportunity to attend some of the best universities in the world based on their academic merit - not the size of their daddy's wallet. I can tell from the answers in your posts, that you will not be able to cope with the amount of self discipline it takes the Swiss to make sure things keep ticking on like clock-work - so do me a favour and don't bother applying for the Swiss system as you don't have what it takes...
Yours truly,
Daddy

Wow, who pissed in your cornflakes today?

Are you saying that the Swiss Government pay the university fees for anyone who has attended, and graduated from, a state school in Switzerland and wants to go to university somewhere else?

No, based on academic merit means based on academic merit and not financial merit.

The Cornflakes Brand is also overrated, as are people who choose to buy and eat them...

try not to feed the troll

Hello,

My daughter finished her six months language classes in November and started at the local school in the right class for her age.

She has settled in well, both academically and socially. Her maths is perhaps at a higher level than her peers, her French is above average, her German is good enough and of course improving all the time. She has extra German classes when the rest of her class have English.

Her teacher has said that she will go into Sek A next year.

The other children in her class are friendly with her. She has been invited to the cinema a couple of times.

My husband and I were talking about this the other night and have absolutely no regrets about our decision.

Lovely to hear it all worked out for you and your daughter. It's nice to hear a follow up. Good luck to you and your family.

Hi,
We were there last year ourselves, waiting to see if there would be spots for our kids for this year. It was a lot of stress, but it all worked out. They are now at ZIS. Does your husband's company have a corporate agreement with these schools ? If so, you are given a priority. My only advice is to keep talking to the schools and tell them how interested you are (and your situation). Also, schools at this point don't know what the enrollment will look like next year. For us, spots magically opened up on April 1st (deposit for the next year is due on March 31st). Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.