HAUT-LAC INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOL NEAR MONTREUX

Location:

Situated in the quaint village of St-Légier near the Swiss town of Vevey, the school occupies a stunning spot between the lake and the Alps. The larger city of Lausanne is an easy 30-minute drive away, and students can get to the Geneva International Airport in one hour and 30 minutes.

Haut-Lac has two sister campuses: Praz Dagoud for infants/elementary students and Roches Grises for middle and high school. The two campuses reside a three-minute walk apart.

Both feature a broad selection of high-tech amenities designed to enhance education and facilitate fun. From multi-sports courts and full-sized football pitches to high-tech labs and well-stocked libraries, these two sensational campuses are the envy of the education industry.

Overview:

A team of four founders began Haut-Lac in 1993 as a boutique boarding school. The overall aim was to foster a friendly community of bilingual students who could focus entirely on their studies in a family-orientated learning environment.

As an independent school with 600 enrolments at any one time, Haut-Lac hosts over 50 unique nationalities (around 50% are local). Its multinational approach encourages students to adopt a global mindset through language and cultural exchange.

Some 60 specialist teachers give students the personalised attention they deserve (average class size is 12). Many programmes incorporate interactive “gamified” components to make learning more fun.

Core Values:

Haut-Lac’s mission is to give all students the skills and expertise they need to learn, live, and succeed in the modern age. Despite its ultramodern digital-friendly focus, the school retains its founder’s vision of an inclusive, community-orientated learning environment.

Academics:

Haut-Lac gives students the choice of following an English Only or fully bilingual English-French stream.

The boarding school runs seven academic programmes:

• The Infant & Primary programme is based on the renowned “Learning Means the World” model.
• The Lower Secondary programmes offer a choice of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IBMYP) or the Swiss Bilingual Cycle.
• Upper Secondary programmes include the International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP), the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), the US High School Diploma (USHD), and the IBCP Sports and Study Programme (for aspiring athletes).

Every programme adopts a holistic approach, blending a balanced education with sports, transferable skills, and intercultural awareness.

Focus areas allow students to pursue their passions throughout each programme. Special tuition covers the arts (performance, visual, music, and film, etc.), digital education (robotics, programming, and computer science, etc.), and sports (skiing, team sports, and swimming, etc.).

Extracurricular Activities:

Haut-Lac offers a wide array of exciting extracurricular activities, many of which take advantage of its gorgeous alpine setting—think skiing, hiking, watersports, and more.

Boarding students who don’t return home over the term break can participate in international excursions to neighbouring European nations like Germany, Italy, and France.