Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye

The Lycée International of St Germain-en-Laye is a French state school located in St Germain-en-Laye, on the outskirts of Paris. It is unique in bringing together students from different origins in twelve national sections. According to the French educational system, these students are prepared for a final examination (the Baccalauréat) in either fields of literature, social economics or sciences. However, due to their cultural background, they are expected to take the OIB ("Option Internationale du BAC"). The campus contains a pre-school, a primary school and a secondary school. It welcomes students who master French and other languages (such as German, English, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese) and international students who will learn to master the French language. The principle of the Lycée is that students who speak French must be bilingual when they enter whereas international students who speak a foreign tongue will grow, either to become bilingual or multilingual with the teaching of the French language.

Sections

The school has twelve national sections which are, essentially, schools within a school. Students are taught the relevant national curriculum alongside the standard French curriculum. Foreign teachers in each of the twelve national sections give the students lessons in literature, geography and history (generally from 6 to 8 hours a week according to the grade) in their native tongue. However, all other disciplines of the official program are taught in French.

* American Section [http://www.lycee-intl-american.org/]
* British Section [http://www.lycee-international.net/]
* Danish Section [http://www.sectiondanoise.dk/]
* Dutch Section [http://www.ac-versailles.fr/etabliss/lyt/NL/index.html]
* German Section [http://www.section-allemande.de/]
* Italian Section [http://www.lycee-international.com/Italie/Intro.htm]
* Japanese Section [http://www.lycee-international-jp.com/]
* Norwegian Section [http://www.ac-versailles.fr/etabliss/lyt/norvege/index.html]
* Polish Section [http://www.lycee-international.com/pol/pol.htm]
* Portuguese Section [http://www.lycee-international.com/Pt/Default.htm]
* Spanish Section [http://www.lycee-international.com/spain/INDEX.HTM]
* Swedish Section [http://www.ac-versailles.fr/etabliss/lyt/suede/index.htm]

History

The history of the school to date can be described by three distinct phases:

1951–1965

In 1951, the then-recently established NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) created SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe) – a grouping of 15 countries - with the aim of ensuring peace and security in the North Atlantic region, and promising European members the support of the United States in the event of any future aggression.

SHAPE was installed at Rocquencourt, and Saint Germain-en-Laye was chosen as the place of residence for the serving officers and their families. The SHAPE Village Project was built in the grounds of the Chateau d’Hennemont to accommodate 1,500 officers and soldiers from 13 nationalities, and their families.

In January 1952, the SHAPE village school was set up in the chateau under the direction of René Taillard. By the end of the school year, 400 children were on the register, including 200 French children, half of them inhabitants of the town. Two years later, in 1954, the school was officially renamed the NATO International School (l’Ecole International de l’OTAN).

Funding from SHAPE provided the school with equipment and accommodation, including a new flagship building completed in 1960. From 1961, senior students prepared for the Diplôme des Ecoles Internationales and the following year, the school was renamed the NATO International Lycée (Lycée International de l’OTAN). The founding proviseur, René Taillard, retired in 1965.

1965–1989

Not only did 1965 mark the retirement of the much respected M Taillard, it was also the year in which President de Gaulle decided to pull France out of NATO’s military operations. NATO, and SHAPE, were forced to find a new European base, in Belgium, and the Lycée International de l’OTAN lost two thirds of its pupils at a stroke. It was an immediate challenge for the new proviseur, Edgar Scherer. His was the delicate task of working with the remaining two sections – the German and the Dutch – to persuade the educational authorities, both in France and overseas, to rebuild the life of the school which, would from now on need to count on the support of "economic expatriates" to replace those of the original military community.

By 1968, under Scherer’s leadership and direction, the school was building up strength with six sections – German, Dutch, British, American, Danish and Italian. The visionary Proviseur Scherer continued to build, experiment and develop, with the co-operation of all the active partners in the school, to create a solid base for the future of the Lycée International - until his retirement in 1989.

1989–present

Scherer’s successor, Jean Pierre Maillard, had a different challenge: modernising the infrastructure of a school, which had been expanding again over more than twenty years. Replacing pre-fabricated buildings with more lasting structures was now a priority. The building project took three years, with all the associated judicial, financial and technical implications to manage – and school life, of course, had to continue uninterrupted.

Thanks to state funding, the result was a new campus, including a fine new primary building. Under Maillard, other projects advanced too: the development of the network of partner schools, the drafting of a "projet d’établissement", the creation of the Japanese section in 1993; the embracing of the Option International du Baccalaureate as the final exam for senior Lycée students, and the renovation of the chateau.

In 1997, Maillard handed the baton on to Patrick Charpeil, who focused attention on the administrative complexities of the school, clarifying the legal basis of the Lycée and its component parts. Charpeil continued to oversee the restoration of the chateau and successfully liaised and lobbied with the supervising educational authorities to advance important projects concerning security, major improvements and maintenance.

Yves Lemaire, the current proviseur, took over the helm in September 2001. The challenges are as stimulating as ever: the final stages of renovation and the future use of the chateau; the pressure for increasing the number of classes at Lycée level; nation-wide administration of the OIB; the creation of the Polish section at college and Lycée level (in 2002/3) and the consolidation of the legal status of the school via a new decree.

External links

* [http://www.lycee-international.com/ Site du lycée - in French]