Social pedagogue

The Ecole d’Humanité, an international boarding high school, is located in Hasliberg Goldern, just off the rail line between Interlaken and Lucerne. Surrounded by the awe-inspiring peaks of the Bernese Oberland, our international village for living, learning, and growing is home to children and adults from some 25 different countries. The stunning natural setting provides both a wholesome learning environment and exceptional opportunities for hiking, skiing, climbing, and other outdoor activities.

The academic program at the Ecole aims to promote meaningful understanding rather than surface knowledge. Students take only three academic subjects per trimester. This allows them to concentrate on each one with special intensity. Small classes (student-teacher ratio is 5:1) allow for individualized instruction and demand active participation.

To balance the intensive academic program in the morning students devote their afternoons to the arts, sports, and practical work, selecting from some eighty possible courses. Blacksmithing, skiing or snowboarding, woodworking, painting, pottery, rock-climbing, the annual Shakespeare production, French theater, classical, jazz, folk, and pop music ensembles, instrumental and voice lessons, gardening, and animal husbandry are just a few of the fields students can choose to explore and then concentrate on in their afternoons.

The Ecole d’Humanité offers both Swiss and American academic programs. The American Program leads to a High School Diploma and includes preparation for the College Board SAT exams, for which the Ecole is an official testing center. Students can also prepare for exams leading to the AP International Diploma (see facing page) and entrance to universities around the world. Our Swiss Program offers primary and normal secondary school diplomas which are recognized throughout Switzerland. Older students can prepare for university via the Swiss Matura exams or the College Board AP exams, or they can take courses that increase their chances of winning a place in a demanding apprenticeship or a vocational college.