ISB vs. St. John's vs. local

Neither ISB nor St John's will help your children's French, St John's has a small immersion program for under 7s only at the moment. BSB in Tervuren is the only private international school with a bilingual program but your 11 year old's French would have to be pretty high to get into the bilingual class, the 9 year old will have more chance. You would still have to be realistic that the BSB program alone is not going to produce mother tongue level French, you'd need much reinforcement of French to get to the level of a child at a local school. Lycee Francais in Uccle is a French government subsidised school with a radically different curriculum to what you'll be used to, plus the chances of places there is pretty slim.

If you want your children to improve their French, either go local or plan on having them in an after-school activity 4 or 5 times a week and unless they are already pretty fluent, this still won't be as effective as a local school.

There are about 100 US nationals at BSB at a guess and probably similar numbers of British/Irish nationals at ISB. With children that young, given both schools offer IB diploma, were they to still be here at the age of 16, I would concentrate more on what the school offers in terms of extra-curriculars and French fluency program (not at ISB)  rather than an American curriculum.

There really is no comparison between what BSB offers in terms of French and Dutch and what is offered at ISB and St John's or the several other private English schools in Belgium.

Thank you for the speedy reply!
I was afraid the French situation would be like that. My husband is a French national, so the lycée might be an option. While my older girl is more comfortable in French than her sister, they've  both had extra grammar classes and spent time with family in france. i suspect they'd both be mother tongue ready in 3-6 months (their grandmother thinks they're already there, but she's biased).
My husband's office would be south of Waterloo. Are the local schools there good? I've read that they all have different foci and appeal for different reasons. That's lovely -- but we'll only have a week in Brussels to find a school, find a house, meet with HR, etc. I need to limit our options from here!

Where work is would be crucial.

Just a small add-on to what Tervurener wrote: if you go for BSB check if your 11 yrs old would be able to get there - apparently the first bilingual class was created for kids born in 2004. For that class not a problem to get a place (if French is good enough), for younger kids there might be a waiting list.

Actually year 7 class for 11 year olds is tough to get in to at bsb and oversubscribed. Year 4 or 5 for 9 year olds should have plenty of space.

Hi,
I'm a Canadian living in Belgium with 14 year old twin girls. We got here when the girls were 11 so I have done all the research you're doing now and I wish I could have known what I know now. My response will be long but let's hope this helps. Firstly, you should know that the Belgium attitude towards children is very different than our North American attitude. I was shocked to see people smoking beside my kids, pushing them out of the way on the sidewalks, ramming into one of them on their bikes. This attitude translates in the local schools So I DO NOT recommend you putting your kids there. Don't get me wrong, the level of education is excellent but the percentage of failures is high as they are very demanding and not very helpful. I know this sounds harsh but Europe is in an economical crisis and competition is very high for future employment so kids are asked to be exceptional. They must excel in school, sport and music. I have not met a parent who didn't have serious concerns for the child's sky rocketing levels of stress. Especially at exam time which are twice a year and are full-on 4 hour exams even for a 9 year old. My children are also bilingual so for those reasons a bilingual school was preferred. We enrolled them in a small school called BICS. Brussels International Catholic School. It's a bilingual school and the level of education is very high as they follow the Belgium program for French and the Cambridge program for English. That being said, it is a Roman Catholic school with very traditional beliefs and that is not something we were comfortable with. The girls did spend 2.5 years there. We, unfortunately didn't have the budget for the bigger private schools. These schools know that most expats have school fees payed by their employers and so they can demand insane tuition fees. That being said, I do hear that ISB is an excellent school. Very American in style. A friendly and happy environment. I have a few friends who highly recommend it. I don't however know about their bilingual program though. I know St John's has a new Bilingual program but it is a catholic school so maybe not a fit for you. But the school is in a pretty town called Waterloo which is also very friendly and where many English speaking expats live. My girls now go to BIS. bischool.com/ It's a bilingual school which follows the international baccalaureate. It is relatively new so still very small. That can be both good and bad. They are very forward thinking, friendly, respectful of the children and helpful. This school is in a small forest in Waterloo. Your kids could ride their bikes there but it might be a long walk from the main road to the school. Some kids do it. I recommend you make appointments with the schools and visit them. Then you could weigh the pros and cons. I'm not sure where you'd like to live so that might affect your choices as well. I know what you're going through so please feel free to ask me more questions. I'll do my best to help. Besides the schooling issues, we are enjoying our time here. We're going on three years now and I don't know how much longer we'll be. The traveling opportunities alone are worth all the craziness! Good luck with your move and welcome to Belgium!

Just saw this. If your husband's work is North of Waterloo and you want your kids to go to a French school then I HIGHLY recommend BIS bischool.com/. It sounds like a perfect fit.
Good luck.

Bogaerts advertises it used Cambridge International curriculum, it's SSB which does IB, not Bogaerts, hence the difference in fees for IB years as it's SSB and not Bogaerts.

I can only talk from experience of having children at local schools from maternelle to almost end of secondaire. None of the children had any exams in P1 (7), P3 (9) or P5 (11) at all, none of them ever had 4 hour exams at primaire level or secondaire level, none of them have had 2 sets of exams per year, they had Summer exams (interdiocesans which are external Catholic schools ones) in P2 and P4 and are oligatory in all Catholic primaires and then the obligatory CEB in P6 which both BICS and Bogaerts children also complete. The longest exam any of my teenagers have completed is 2 hours and there are Summer exams all 6 secondaire years which are happening now. Yes academic standards are very high here in academic secondaires, the worst stress without doubt is on those children whose parents have chosen academic schools which are too demanding, instead of choosing less academic options or technical or professional schools. Yes the schools expect parents and children to respect the school rules too, any parent expecting the school to cater for their individual needs might be very disappointed or early on fall out with head teachers and teachers.

There are local secondaires and primaires which actively promote differenciation and different ways of learning. Just in Brussels region alone, l'Autre Cote de l'Ecole is a Freinet secondaire opening and l'Ecole Active is a Decroly secondaire one opening in September 2014.

Actualy, they're tought the MYP which is middle year program where they are prepared for the IB. They then join SSB for the IB which is fully english at that point. They share the same campus and even some of the same teachers.

Glad your kids never had 4 hour exams. It's heart breaking to see your little ones have to prepare and sit for such long exams.

Which school asks 9 year olds to sit 4 hour exams?

Hi there Grapes,
I am in a similar situation right now to pick schools.
I have 12 year old twins girls, their English is pretty good but no French.
I am curious to know about your experiences with Bogaerts? I read very good and very bad reviews. I need an honest review.
There is also a new school in the same campus called European School in Brussels (EEBA) partnered with SSB. I wonder if you know anything about it, many thanks.
Ahu

Hi Ahu,
Bogaerts is a small school with big ambitions. It's got some growing to do but for the most part it's a well run school. They're moving to a beautiful new location next year in Uccle (Domaine de Latour de Freins)  which temporarily adds to the chaos but allows for the school to spread it's wings and grow into the school it's trying to be. Their location now in Argenteuil is a little difficult with many school sharing the campus. You mentioned the European school, you should contact them because I may be wrong but as far as I know it's only for Nato.

If your kids speak mostly English then Bogaerts would be fine as they start off bilingual in the lower levels but move into more English as they prepare for the English IB in year 11 and 12. I hear mix reviews from St. John's and ISB as well. It depends on what your needs are. Some people love them some less. They're  both well established schools, quite large with great facilities but all that comes at a cost. They are expensive but that may depend on your budget. Another option is ISF. It follows the Cambridge system. It's small but well run apparently.  It's worth visiting the schools if you can. Your choice will depend on how your twins feel on Campus and where you'll be living. If that's not possible then at least give them all a call.  No school is perfect but Bogaerts has been a good fit for us.  I hope this was helpful. Good luck.

Thanks so much Grapes, that's very very helpful.

I also heard about Ace of Brussels and International Montessori School.

Any ideas about these?

Sorry I haven't.  It's a difficult decision, I would call them all up for starters. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for your help, really appreciate it, good luck to you too.

There are European schools which are directly controlled with 3 categories of students, NATO make up just some of the students at the 4 Brussels EEBs.

Then there are schools affiliated with European school system, which follow the European school model and are approved to do so.

Then there is a school sharing Bogaerts and SSB at Argenteuil which currently is classed as home schooling and awaiting approval to be considered an affiliated European school. Anyone can go to that school.

ISF follows the IPC international primary curriculum in primary.  In secondary, it follows its own curriculum based on IGCSEs and A levels of the Cambridge board.

Thank you school mom, you have been very helpful.

I am just confused about these EEBS. Do these 4 European School Brussels (not the one at Argenteuil) accept expat kids and are they bilingual or do they teach in French with a few hours of English on the side?


One last thing:

How is your perception of Bogaerts vs ISF?
Pros and Cons?

ahutukel wrote:

Thank you school mom, you have been very helpful.

I am just confused about these EEBS. Do these 4 European School Brussels (not the one at Argenteuil) accept expat kids and are they bilingual or do they teach in French with a few hours of English on the side?


One last thing:

How is your perception of Bogaerts vs ISF?
Pros and Cons?

The 4 EEBs and EE Mol are full European schools with 3 categories of students, The definition of categories is posted on the school websites, but basically cat1 is European Council/Commission/Parliament children, cat2 I think is NATO/Eurocontrol and cat3 are full paying open (which means you have zero chance in English or French such are the numbers of cat1 and cat2. In reality in English and French sections these 5 full European schools in Belgium are restricted to privilege of your parents' employer.

European School Brussels-Argenteuil has no recognition as a school at the moment and is classed as home school, it is seeking approval for associated European school status which at a guess they will have for September 2017 and it means it is in effect just like any other private international school and open to all, it is simply the curriculum is based on the full European schools, fees over 10k apply. Employees of the European Commission can choose to reject FREE schooling at EEBs and EE Mol and send their children instead to this "European School" but will have to pay for schooling, with a certain proportion paid still by their employer but not all and not even half. They may choose to do this, if they live nearby for example, to avoid bussing their children for 2 hours a day into Brussels for a free EEB.

You need to go look at the European school model to understand how languages are divided in terms of time in each language and what is taught in each language. The children start age 4 in 2 languages and at secondary that increases to 3 languages and some do 4.

You cannot compare Bogaerts and ISF regarding languages. Bogaerts has a 50/50 French/English split in the classroom, but it is unlikely to be 50/50 in the playground. ISF is just English only . ISF is a non profit school with no owner and a governing body and is very long established - look up ISF Educational Trust. Bogaerts is owned by the Bogaerts family and part of a bigger company with Bogaerts in the name. Both schools do IB and A levels and follow internationally used curriculums.

Thanks so much again schoolmom, so if we want our kids to be exposed to more French, I guess Bogaerts will be a better choice vs ISF, did I get this right?

If you want your children exposed to French, it is best to choose a local and free French school in fact.  It depends on what level of French your wish your children to be able to speak, understand, read and write. Bogaerts, EEBA, both will give your 12 year olds a functional level of French, were they to stay for the next 6 years at these school, but there is very slim likelihood they will get any real fluency in French, without an awful lot of French exposure outside school. If you wish your 12 year olds to be fluent in French, then choose a local free French school.

If you are looking just for French at school in a school which also teaches in English, in that area there is Lycee Francais, EEBA and Bogaerts at secondary level. In just English there is St John's and ISF in that area.

I think Bogaerts and EEBA have similar fee levels, Lycee Francais is significantly cheaper but chances of places aged 12 without French are slim.

Thanks a lot tervunerer, this also very helpful.

We also considered Le Verseau and other local French schools but we are quite worried about how they would manage 7th grade starting with zero French and also how they will make new friends at school without speaking the language.

These are 12 year old teenage girls so it's important give them a fair start that they can succeed and make friends. We also don't want them to repeat a year.

We are thinking about starting them in a bilingual school like Bogaerts in the first 2 years and then possibly move them to Le Verseau for high school.

No scenario is perfect but we feel like this will be a more fair and smooth transition for them.

Do you know about many success stories starting higher grades in a local school with no French at all?

Are you paying your own school fees? Both Bogaerts and EEBA charge 16.5-17.2k per year for self funders. A UK state boarding school is less than that and would give you an English language education and food and extra-curriculars, but you have to be EU.

If you are self funding, I'd say look again at Le Verseau.

If someone is paying your fees, I'd consider BSB in Tervuren.

Thanks a lot tervurener, I will keep all in mind, very helpful.

I too am relocating my family to Brussels. We are American, but bilingual in Spanish (I grew up bilingual). My children are 13 and 6, and my primary goal for them is to become fluent in French and embrace a new culture and to learn from this opportunity. They have both been taking French lessons with a native speaker from France for a few months, and it is very similar to Spanish in many ways so they are learning quickly.

We would like to live in a neighborhood where they can walk / bus to the local schools. I will be working downtown (Rue de la Science, 23 ) and my husband works from home. We are strongly considering putting our children in the local public schools as they have a good academic reputation. We understand that it will be challenging for them until their French improves, especially the oldest child.

Does anyone have advice on this approach or any insight on best schools for our situation? We are so excited to move, and we really want them to be immersed and not just surrounded solely by expats, although of course those friendships will be embraced as well!

Thank you for all the posts here! This is the most information I have been able to find on local schools with recent updates!!

Shannon

Schools with high academics are also ones where you will find little flexibility and you will be expected to get your child fluent, not the job of school to provide the extra tuition.

I would start with contacting Jean 23 Woluwe for your 13 year old which is a fairly academic school and also the only secondaire in Brussels which does 13 hours a week in English immersion and that only starts at age 13/14 in secondaire 3. Places on their English immersion programme are limited but they might allow a non francophone to join. That would give confidence of 1/3 of curriculum in English balanced with 2/3 of curriculum in French and all playground in French. There is a primaire there too.

The only local school alternative I'd go with is le Verseau in Wavre. It's quite a trip from Brussels but if you choose somewhere to live along the TEC bus routes (2 of them from Brussels) which go to Wavre, it might be workable. I'd go for the TEC bus from Stockel, as it is a 15 minute metro to work from there, plus a bus ride to Wavre (well 2 buses). There will absolutely be a place at Le Verseau for your 13 year old, plus you'll have top-up fees of around 5k. But you'll find several other English-French speakers in the Stockel area who attend there and you could car share with. This might be the only Belgian French school which will be flexible with the lack of French. It's about 50-50 French-English mother tongue there, quite unique in the local public system. For the younger one, I'd get a place in another primaire, le Verseau is unlikely to have a place in primaire and it's a big trip for a child of that age, there are several great local French schools, I'd go for the ones in Stockel - ecole communale de Stockel, Sacre-Coeur de Stockel, St Georges, Diabolo, Notre-Dame de la Trinite.

Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate your response and details. We are working with a relocation company and hope that they also have some knowledge of the school situation.

Also, a follow up question, do you feel that complete immersion is too rigorous for the 13 year old? Or do most children start to move to English/ French bilingual programs in Secondaire?

Dont use a relocation agency that will hinder your move. They are notorious for getting people to live where they don't want for claiming houses are gone when they aren't and same for schools.

Contact schools yourself by phone first.  Find your own housing only after you have school places

French English bilingual programmes

Firstly only 3 worth it. Lycee francais 7 to 8 K impossible because no French. Bsb 28k. Again not possible because of no French. International montessori will accept will always have places and don't care if a student speaks neither French nor English  again over 20k. But may not get much French fluency and you d have to be happy with alternative methods.

Bogaerts Montgomery bics they are the only other private schools from 10to 20k for bilingual will always have places you might not want to pay. Doubt you d get much fluency in French. I d go English if you have  10 to 20k for private school either at isf or ace.

There are no public  schools in Belgium that do bilingual French English programmes. There are a few schools doing English immersion that is not bilingual. Jean 23 does English immersion the only one in Brussels which goes to max allowed 13 hours

I was thinking of not putting the 13 year old in a bilingual program at all, only an all french program. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I would consider French uniquely only if Jean 23 or le verseau do not offer a place. Do not underestimate how negative the Belgian schools are. At least Jean 23 and le verseau have experienced non francophone children at that age. Also remember 4 hours Dutch is obligatory in Brussels but not Wallon in which is why le verseau can do English at first secondary and not from 3rd secondary in Brussels. So Jean 23 has 4 hours Dutch.

I agree with what is said below in terms of institutions with high academics being not very flexible. A school you may want to consider is Lycee Emile Jacqmain (elementary/middle/high school jacqmain.be ) close to where you will be working. This is a very demanding (not to say "elite") school in terms of the work that is asked to students in order to do well. I must confess that if you add the French language adjustment on top it may be a bit overwhelming for your 13 yo. Bear in  mind that public schools may have little emphasis on practical work as they heavily rely on  material to study and this is the case for Lycee Jacqmain. It produces very complete all-rounders used to study hard with a fast understanding of the material, again this may not suit all children. It is a school that has international ties thanks to its reputation but do not expect an expat environment. For that you may want to try ISB, Montessori, etc... metaphorically these are massage parlors for children in constant adaptation moving from one place to the next. Whatever public school you may choose I would be careful in picking an "Ecole Communale" or a Catholic school. I am mentioning Catholic Schools because as Americans this is a school concept you may not be familiar with in terms of the way religion is distillated into education.

Thank you Laruse, for your response. I suspect that adding french to a "classical" education which is very different from the public education in the US might indeed be a bit overwhelming. But I will certainly reach out to Lycee Jacqmain and see what they can suggest / offer. I'm very open to any  and all suggestions and really thank those of you who are offering your insight. Is there by any chance a service in Brussels that one can hire to help navigate the schools?

Sorry vehemently disagree. There is zero difference between academic Catholic schools in Brussels and communal academic ones. Emile jacqmain is a communal secondary and St Michel a Catholic secondary other than name. Absolutely ridiculous comments. It appears the poster does not even know emile jacqmain is an ecole communale. Communal and Catholic schools are 90 per cent of schools and now Brussels too. Of the academic secondaries 80 per cent are Catholic.

By the way there are not 3 emile jacqmain sections either. There are 2 completely separate schools with zero links other than sharing 2 words of their names. There is an ecole communale fondamentale for2 to 12s and an ecole communale secondaire for 12 to 18. Please never confuse these schools.

Ignorance... Emile Jacqmain is what is locally called "Ecole de la ville de Bruxelles" which is a different network from the "Ecole Communal" network. Similarly Catholic schools belong to a third network that is differently financed and administrated. The way you have access to each network is also regulated by different laws. I never talked about the quality of education of the Catholic network, I only mentioned their inclination due to the faith factor that can be different from the non-confessional schools. You hear things in class at College Saint Michel you would never hear in the other networks, it is a matter of educational choice. Belgium is not France, in Belgium with their "compromise obsession" they had to gave in to the Catholic community and keep religion classes within programmes. in France if you wear a cross or a hijab in a school you are asked to take it off, whether you are a student or a parent.

As for what has been intepreted as 3 schools, again a "misunderstanding", I was making the parallel with the way school was structured in the US. I was not implying there were 3 schools in Emile Jacqmain.

As for your question SMCD about navigating between schools. The access to public schools has been reorganised in the latest "decret inscription". The idea was to have kids of an area attend the schools in the suroundings of their residence (like in the US) but with time it has proved to be such a catastrophe that they added multiple factors beyond the residence. As a law of socilaist inspiration it was an attempt to "break" the elite schools of the centre of Brussels by flooding them with the local population that is mainly of modest social origin in order to level their education. (Before that law you could travel a long way just to attend a good school). The result is the opposite of what the law was designed for as you now have all those school attended by mainly one social strat while kids who used to travel to attend those schools are now attending schools in their neighbourhood creating an educational "ghettoisation". Some schools such as Jacqmain resisted applying the "decret inscription" other did not.

So to come back to your question, even locals have difficulties in understanding where their kids will end up when they register them for the first time. I think a look at http://www.inscription.cfwb.be/ but I am afraid it is all in French. I am aware that Emile Jacqmain usually has free spots for kids at the beginning of the year partly because it is a difficult school and its reputation is chasing some kids away.