I have a 7 yr old at ISB, and from Grade 1 they do 5 lessons of German every 6 school days (they do a 6 day rotation for the timetable), my son is doing very well in German and his teacher asked without knowing if he did activities out of school in the local community - which he does, as she says she can tell, yes I agree that the language would be better if in local school but feel for the moment the rest of his education and the facilities at the school outweigh any downside of not being fully immersed in the local education system.

Wow there is so much information here! My husband and I will be moving to Basel in the next few months and have been debating about whether or not to send our kids to a Swiss school or the ISB. I didn't realize the SIS was english based.

We are not sure whether or not we will be there long term. I am guessing 2-5 years at this point but if we love it perhaps longer. My kids are 6.5 (1st grade), 4.5 (4k or pre-kindergarten) and 2. I was concerned that the 6 year old would have a difficult time transitioning into the Swiss system as we speak no German at this time. I felt however that the 2 year old and possibly the 4 year old would go into some type of Swiss program. So the general consensus is that perhaps they are young enough to be able to acclimate into the Swiss system with only a few bumps? I understand the issues of coming back to the States having sent the kids to german language schools but I also want them to experience the culture and feel like it is their home.

I used to live in Spain when I was younger and attend the American School in Madrid. While it was comforting to be around others who spoke english I was isolated in my neighborhood. I spoke enough spanish to get around I never felt a part of the community.

I have a friend here in the states who is from Puerto Rico and she and her husband speak spanish at home. However the kids are more comfortable now that they are in school speaking english and it is driving their mom crazy.

So I guess ultimately my question or comment is...young kids benefit from the Swiss Public school system? Ok if so then can anyone point me to the direction of good schools in the Basel area? I am so new but will be coming over for a quick tour in a few weeks and want to visit some public schools while there to get a better idea of where to begin looking for housing.

Thank you!!!

There is a lot on here about the ISB which is very different from the SIS. The SIS is bi-lingual. We started at the SIS, and unlike most comments here, we were pleased. It doesn't have all the facilities of the ISB, but I thought the teachers were excellent and the emphasis on German made up for that. It's enabled our children to integrate well into the Swiss system. (We changed for a financial reason, but I'm really glad we did.)

I guess here is my summary.

1. Oberwil is a bit far from SIS and I wouldn't want to drive that every day, but you are driving your other children anyway? Other than that, the school is really fine.

2.There is a heavier emphasis on English than German since many children are already from another international school environment. (If I remember about 30% english speaking countries, 30% german speaking countries, 40% other)

3. The school is continuing to grow, so won't have all the facilities of the ISB.

4. We've been just as pleased (if not more) with the local schools and it's been quite a bit cheaper!!

Sorry, I thought I would comment on this. My oldest started at SIS about your oldest's age. She did fine. All the kids feel more connected with the neighborhood since being in a local school. However, I do think it will be more difficult if we decide to return to the US. I'm worried about English vocabulary, spelling, reading, etc. I guess I have to get my act together and do some teaching.

The local schools around the zoo and Im Gellert are supposed to be very good if you want to look in Basel. I don't have first hand experience, but people have told me Therwil (way out by my standards) has very good local schools.

In less than 2 weeks we are flying to Basel, our wonderful company has set everything up for us including a tour of the ISB. I was wondering if anyone had a tour of the ISB and what they thought of it. We will also be checking out the surrounding areas. We both once upon a time spoke fluent french and are especially excited to see that part of the city, however from the threads that I read it is not deemed the most desireable part to live in.

Just to say that one of the language schools in Basel, Academia, offers a 'step in' programme to help your child rapidly integrate into local schools. They teach intensive german and then liase with your local gemeinde. I haven't used it so can't comment on the quality but it may be an avenue to explore with older kids.
My older children are in the ISB, it's fine, does what it says on the tin. Like any school it has its strengths and weaknesses. My youngest though will go to the local school and I think that there should be no problems from a language point of view (she's 4).

Danya, I'm not sure which bit of Basel you're talking about when you mention speaking French. You can live over the border in France and there all the admin stuff will of course be in French. A lot people also speak a local dialect of French as well as standard French. Once you live over in Switzerland all the documentation etc is in German and people speak Swiss German. Sure, there's a lot of foreigners in the city and plenty of people travel from France to work but I don't think there's a bit of the city which is a french enclave. It is very helpful though to understand French as often sales brochures/websites/information is in both French and German.
Frankly, it's a tower of Babel here and you hear all sorts of languages being spoken!