Friday, January 21, 2011

Haut Lac et les écoles suisses

(Haut Lac and the Swiss schools)

As you know, we're living in Pully, basically a suburb of Lausanne, which results in a 38 - 47 minute train journey each way for Laura to get to her work in Nyon. We didn't choose Pully simply because we wanted to live on this end of the lake, we chose it because it's a good compromise distance between Laura's work and the boys' school. Haut Lac is in Vevey, about a 15-20 minute drive from here, depending on traffic.

We applied to four international schools before we came to Switzerland, and Haut Lac was the only school in which both kids were able to be placed. So, it was really chance that placed them there. But, in the end I think we were very lucky. Haut Lac is a bit unique in that it has about 50% expat and 50% local population, so it's not exactly a "typical" international school that is essentially all expat community. We hope that this will keep things pretty well grounded, although to be honest, the local kids I'm sure come from pretty wealthy families as well. (True story: another expat family that we know with kids at the International School of Lausanne had a child who came home asking if he could go to Monaco for the weekend with a friend from the school....on the family's private jet. It's a different world....)

Haut Lac: The tall building houses the lower grades
on the lower floors
.

It's pretty clear that Haut Lac is going to be a great school for the kids, and one of the biggest differences is numbers. Elliot needs a bit of extra attention to stay focused in school, and that's simply easier for the teacher here. For example, Elliot's first grade teacher at Hale in Minneapolis was a really good teacher, but she admitted to us that she simply couldn't give Elliot the attention he deserved with 27 other kids in the class. Now, Elliot's class numbers 14 kids. Calvin's is roughly the same with two teachers!


Elliot modeling the Haut Lac uniform.
Uniforms: I never was a big fan of uniforms in principle, but I'm a full-convert now. Man, how easy is it to get the kids dressed every day! Every day it's the same thing: white Haut Lac polo shirt, green Haut Lac sweatshirt, black or gray pants, black shoes. Simple! The boys' closets are overflowing with all of the other clothes they have. I guess we'll be buying fewer of those now that we're here, which will be a good thing considering how expensive all the clothes (along with everything else) are in Switzerland. By the way, how much would you expect we paid for 4 sweatshirts, 6 polo shirts, 2 school bags, 2 pairs of Haut Lac sweat pants (for gym), plus 2 gym bags. Answer: $450+.

Location: Haut Lac is French for "above the lake." I guess that's technically true, and the secondary school campus is up the hill a ways, but the boys' building is literally on the lakeshore. (Well, I guess not quite literally -- there is a pedestrian path between the building and the water.) View from the lunch room or playground is directly across Lac Leman at the French Alps. That's a view that I hope I never tire of or take for granted. Also, on Fridays we have putzed around on the lakeshore throwing stones into the lake or finding things to add to Elliot's Swiss "colekshun" (good phonetics anyway, Elliot).

Calvin (short) and Elliot (tall) playing along the lakeshore after school.

View from in front of Haut Lac looking east (toward Montreux and Valais).

Finally, the interesting part: Haut Lac hours (unlike many of the international schools here) pretty much follows the public school hours here in our canton of Vaud. That means 8:30 to 3:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It means classes are done by noon on Wednesday. Yes, in part of the great Swiss conspiracy to ensure women stay at home, Swiss schools are only half days on Wednesday. (Vaud is better than many of the Swiss cantons. Geneva, for example, has no school on Wednesdays.) Just to ensure that women find it difficult to work the other four days a week Swiss cantonal schools send kids home for lunch every day. Kids have a long lunch break -- about an hour and a half. Older kids walk home and back to school by themselves (that is from the age of about 6 or 7). Younger kids need to be accompanied by a parent. Most kids walk to school by themselves -- there's not much busing in the cities. It make it seem like there are schools everywhere because four times a day the streets are littered with clumps of kids walking to or from school.

By the way, there's an apparently extremely good Swiss school less than a five minute walk from our apartment. Our neighbors all assume our kids are going to school there and are appalled when they find that I drive 15 minutes to Vevey to bring them to school.* To the Swiss this is nearly equivalent to traveling the the US every day to bring out kids to and from school. They all think I'm completely nuts for making the drive. Of course, it takes me about half the time it used to take me to drive to work, and it's along the lake road, which makes it much more scenic! I actually find it very therapeutic.

Man, I hope I never get tired of this drive!
* Our biggest problem with sending the kids to a Swiss school is that they're taught in French, which seemed like too big a transition for the kids this soon. Haut Lac is taught either mostly in English (English section) or half English/half French (bilingual section).

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures! I didn't know you were a photographer. I have been buying all of these photography books to figure out how to use my camera, but I should have just gotten lessons from you. I should have know...you know how to do EVERYTHING! I especially love the one of Elliot and Calvin by the lakeshore.

    I bet you WILL eventually take the scenery for granted. I didn't realize at the time that I would miss it so much, but I'd give anything now to have Boulder's views back!

    Also, apparently it's not just the WOMEN who have to stay home, huh?! :-) Maybe I've romanticized it, but I have these visions of the kids being a lot better-behaved (than in the US) as they are walking to and from school. Well-behaved isn't exactly what I mean...classy, clean-cut, higher moral standards? Maybe it's because of the uniforms. Or maybe it's because there is a parent at home...? Meanwhile, back in the US, we're hearing daily news reports about how child pornography is being glorified on MTVs "Skins." I don't picture that kind of thing happening there, but maybe I'm naive.

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  2. Hmm. Kids being better behaved.... Laura brought Calvin and Elliot to a park and they were WAY louder and more excitable than anyone else. Laura overheard another couple say (in French), those kids are American. She hoped they meant because they heard them speaking American English instead of because of how loud they were.

    You see kids and dogs a lot more here in more formal situations like restaurants and fancy hotels and they are quieter. I don't think they're better behaved, necessarily, but EVERYONE here talks more quietly and in a reserved manner in public, which is something that I think they're brought up with. So, maybe quieter but not necessarily better behaved? It's an area that I need to spend more time observing and there will surely be a post at some time....

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  3. It's hard not to take great pictures here. The scenery is draw-dropping gorgeous whichever way you turn. You really can't take a not great picture.

    How would you feel to know those are just crap pictures off my cell phone?

    (Which I lost on the train today, by the way.)

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  4. Hello there!
    We, my family and I, will be moving to Switzerland in January and our children will probably attend Haut-Lac in Vevey. I am so looking for a personal opinion on the school and details on the bits of the school uniform that I could buy before going there and... I simply love Google! It brought your blog to my eyes and I am having a great time reading it.
    I will continue my reading now, but thanks anyway. Great pics and takes on the place.
    Cheers,
    Carolina

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