Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The Lycée International de Saint Germain en Laye (more commonly, Lycée International or L. I.; English: International High School of Saint Germain en Laye) is a French public school located in Saint Germain en Laye, Yvelines, in the western suburbs of Paris, France. Established in 1952 as a school for the children of international personnel working at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in nearby Rocquencourt, the Lycée International caters to students with international and multilingual backgrounds. Students at the Lycée International are taught in one of the school's fourteen national sections according to their language spoken: American Section or British Section for English, and Chinese, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. They are not required to be fluent in French to be admitted, as there is a special one year Français Spécial language program. The academic curriculum of the international sections supplements the standard French curriculum with additional courses in literature/language and history/geography, taught in the language of the students' respective national sections, allowing them to pursue the option internationale du baccalauréat (OIB), the international variant of the French baccalauréat. The school's main site in Saint Germain en Laye contains a preschool (maternelle), a primary school (école élémentaire), a middle school (collège), and an upper school (lycée). Due to the size of the student body, some primary students enrole as externé students, on a part time basis, for example two half days per week. Some larger national sections have classes for primary and middle school grades at nearby partner schools in Saint Germain en Laye and Le Pecq. All students return to the main campus for their final three (lycée level) years. With a typical success rate of 99.9 to 100 percent on the French baccalauréat, the Lycée International consistently ranks among France's top schools and is considered to be the country's best public international school.

In 1951, the then recently established NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), a grouping of 15 countries, created Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) 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. SHAPE Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to create a school for the children of the officers, which he hoped would help SHAPE's multi national families to live and work together in harmony. The SHAPE village school opened in January 1952, under the direction of René Tallard. 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’École Internationale 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 Tallard, retired in 1965.

Not only did 1965 mark the retirement of the much respected René Tallard, 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 public 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.

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. 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 Internationale du Baccalauréat 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 took over the helm in September 2001 until September 2012. The challenges were 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; nationwide administration of the OIB; the creation of the Polish section at Collège and Lycée level (in 2002/3) and the consolidation of the legal status of the school via a new decree. His successor, Joel Bianco officially took office as the new proviseur in September 2012. He directed the lycée from 2012 to 2016, integrating the Chinese Section. Isabelle Negral was proviseur from 2016 to 2019. She oversaw a major renovation, which included the creation of new secondary buildings, a new preschool building, and a gymnasium, as well as the renovation of the Agora, which will host the CDI, the Maison des Lycéens, meeting rooms, and a center for the arts. France Bessis became proviseur of the school in 2019.

The school has fourteen national sections which are essentially run as schools within the school. Students are taught the relevant national curriculum alongside the standard French curriculum. Foreign teachers in each of the national sections give the students lessons in literature, geography and history (from six to eight hours a week according to the grade) in their native tongue. All other disciplines of the official program are taught in French, by French Ministry of Education teachers. American Section Est. 1952, approx. 700 students
There are some 700 students enrolled in the American Section, at three different campuses, ranging from Pre K (MS) through twelfth grade (Terminale). Over 50 nationalities are represented in the American Section student body, though the majority of students hold both French and American nationalities or are French citizens who spent considerable time abroad in English language schools. The common denominator is that all American Section students speak age appropriate fluent English and are motivated to learn in a demanding bilingual and bicultural environment. The American Section provides an American education. The Ecole Schnapper and the Collège Marcel Roby, also located in St. Germain en Laye, are American Section partner schools. Approximately 65 students in grades K 5 (CP CM2) attend the Ecole Schnapper, and 160 students in grades 6 9 (6ème 3ème) the Collège Marcel Roby. Students enrolled in these two schools receive the same American Section education as their peers on the Lycée International campus. British Section Est. 1952, approx. 850 students
Based at the Lycée International site and across five partner sites in Saint Germain en Laye and Le Pecq.

Tuition fees vary by section as some are private and others are public. In the American section, one of the more expensive sections, in addition to registration and application fees that are around 1 200 euros per child, families are required to pay annual tuition going from 4 290 euros for grades going from pre K to middle school to 5 670 euros for high school. These prices increase if companies are paying for tuition, but also decrease if there are multiple children enrolled in the section.