There is nothing wrong with Isb but there is a huge obstacle in bois de la cambre between uccle and watermael boitsfort. If you want Isb, live 500m max from school. Wonderful area for families. Leaves the worker with a nasty commute by car, or perhaps 41 bus or train from Boondael in Watermael-Boitsfort to St Job and onwards by 92 tram which is the only way to cross the bois de la cambre at the bottom of it by public transport, but the rest of the family will have a nice life living in Watermael-Boitsfort, especially if they live within walking distance. The bois de la cambre is HELL to pass through by car. Don't consider it unless you like traffic jams and spending time away from family.
I don't know why you are not considering Bjab at Montgomery or Isf just south of Uccle. Bjab is superb and commute from that area as bad as from Isb area, in fact it could be a better commute, fast 7 tram from right outside Bjab down to Vanderkindere then 92 tram from there. I'd prefer that to living near BEPS. ISB area is suburban and right next to the forest, Bjab is urban.Both areas have excellent opportunities for kids, but of course the children's activities are 90% in French.
Language of playground, well given the high percentage of rich Belgians paying their own fees at Beps (you'll therefore struggle to get opinions from anglophone parents as there aren't so many compared to the other English medium schools), French will feature highly. Language of playground in some local schools could be choice if 20 odd languages including English, some local schools have similar intake to some international ones, just the uniting lingua france is French instead of English. Some local schools are up to 50% non Belgian, a reflection of the inhabitants around them, if you found one with lots of English speakers, it makes it much easier - like at Plein Air for example which might be the nearest one to work, mind you it's very very popular, but there are indeed English speakers there, as well as probably at least 20 other nationalities.
Here is the schools map - you can see where ISF, ISB and BJAB are on it. ISF is smallest, then BJAB then ISB is of course huge and American curriculum really, much different to BJAB which is based on English national curriculum and ISF which is neither.
http://batchgeo.com/map/2a31361d90c2d9f … 87ee44ccd5
This FB group has over 300 members, mostly local schools, but a few at international schools.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Brussel … olParents/
PS language in the playground would be less of a problem to a non francophone than French in the classroom, if you chose a local school with English speakers in nearly every class and one which has enough non francophones, it receives extra funding for supporting French language learning. There are many of them, they tend to be found in areas with higher percentages of non Belgians.
The majority language of Brussels is French, it opens up much in after-school activities and social life, international schools come with their own challenges - having to say goodbye to 15-20% of the children at the end of each school year for example, keeping up with the more elaborate birthday parties!
Oh final word of advice, relocation agents have an apalling reputation here for misleading expats who have done little or no research on areas, schools, haven't a clue about public transport, haven't a clue about what families are looking for, and even if they ask, they don't listen and match up the family's needs to what is available. I would choose a specific area to live in, in conjunction with school, draw a map and tell the relocation agent to either keep to any housing within that map or sack them! I'd do the research of immoweb myself for housing actually, though it's a pity you cannot break down areas further than commune post code on immoweb, especially when it's a case of the bigger communes like Uccle. Choose your own housing shortlist if you can, leaving it to the relocation agent to set up the viewings, never ever believe them when they say housing adverts you've contacted are available and then they say they are "gone", never ever see any housing the relocation agent suggests without researching it yourself too. Leave the relocation agent to deal with LOWERING the PRICE, making sure there are no unusual clauses in a 9 year contract (don't go for fixed 1/2/3 years especially if it is suggested to you), DO attend the entry inspection, recording comments if you can, taking masses of your own photos, DO read the entry inspection report and report any mistakes within 30 days. Do not trust your relocation agent !!!! Well not at first anyway, some are excellent, but far too many are not. If it's your relocation agent only "offering" those 2 schools, well that says it all for me. Nothing wrong with the schools, just the fact the other options have not been offered shows their lack of knowledge.
