Issues

  1. Through the good offices of Monsieur JJS, the Geneva government decided to donate a piece of land to the Foundation for the construction of a new international school, thereby easing their consciences as they have recently taken in many new employees for the companies newly installed in Geneva. These employees are on B permits and, therefore, must live and work in the same canton.
  2. Unfortunately, the land is very much smaller than that required for the 1300 student campus projected by the Board.
  3. Senior secondary students require the least outdoor space, and can be accommodated in multi-storey buildings.
  4. They are also a ready clientele with highest fee structure: no need to build up the school from small classes: the students will have to attend because, by closing the other two 10-13 units, they will have no choice, particularly the English section (Le Rossey, College de Leman, Moser, International School of Lausanne, Ferney Voltaire? - all of which are also expanding to meet the increased demand in the area ).   However, the French section students will have a great deal of choice of excellent schools (which they do not have in this region of Vaud).
  5. The International School of Geneva is mandated to offer as much choice as possible within the Foundation: we have at the moment, as explained by JJS, two pre-schools, three primary schools and two full secondary schools. We can assume that the two pre-schools (why not three?!) and two primary schools will remain intact, to be followed by two sort-of middle schools and then one senior school. All very obvious, but our secondary schools are also fed by Geneva English School (primary only) and children who have done their primary school in local schools but look for what the ISG can offer for their secondary education (hence the big intake between 5th and 9th grade...info. from admissions); as well as, of course, the children who come to us from other countries and who have more difficulty at that age than in primary school fitting in to the local schools. Is the Foundation offering more choice with this decision, or less..?
  6. We are given to understand that, because of the small size of this piece of land, it would be difficult to fit 1300 primary and secondary students in this space: lack of play space, lack of playing fields (senior students are more easily bussed to a local playing field than primary students). The objective of creating a new campus was to reduce the population of the three existing campuses by about a third, a need which everyone agrees is vital to their standards of education, both academic and pastoral.
  7. However, the staff agree unanimously that it is the mixed age groups represented on the two main campuses that provide the stable environment and the "extended family" that over travelled and over stressed international students need.
  8. Perhaps the solution to our problem is to focus on creating a two language 7 - 13 campus, linked strongly with Pregny, but leaving intact our two excellent main campuses. This would, of course, imply reopening the search for a way of expanding the La Chât. Primary school, which has the biggest demand of all at present.
  9. A comment on the FLP and 6-13 summary eliminating French at Chat and LGB Even though Bogg's summary says that the Foundation doesn't have to offer French on all three campues do we really want to CLOSE the French?  No!!!  We could have filled two 7th if we had the space as the demand is increasing each year. Michel Chinal confirmed this at the end of October in a meeting with the FLP Class Representatives.  Closing the FLP section at la Chât would not help the "anglophones" speak French! and would close the "wonderful bi-lingual campus" If one reads the Principles for an International Education signed by George Walker Director General in 1998 it is clearly stated that the Foundation SHOULD be: Showing respect for, and integration with, the host country. a) the Foundation should seek to become more closely linked with the local comunity b) The Foundation should work hard to insure that the three campuses develop an increasingly positive image in the eyes of the local community Closing the French at LGB and La Chat would be a bad move.
  10. . I think Boggs is making an economic argument. One of the objectives of the new campus is to enable the Foundation as a whole to benefit from economies of scale - ie only offer certain subjects at   certain campuses so you don't duplicate facilities or pay more teachers salarie than you absolutely have to. I suppose this includes French - it has a relatively small number of students divided between Chat and LGB so if you group them all at one campus you cut down the number of teachers standing in front of half empty - or at any rate, less than full - clases. Of course it would not be a benefit to the all-English speakers left at LGB or LC who would inevitably be left in an English 'ghetto'. And who would teach them French anyway, if the Francophone teachers were busy teaching the French stream at the other campus?
  11. . What size campus is good?  See here:  Carnegie study http://www.carnegie.org/sub/pubs/reports/shore.htm "In its 1996 report, the Commission on the Restructuring of the American High School recommended that large schools be in units of no more than 600 students, and each teacher should be responsible for no more than ninety students each term.30 Schools of this size can become learning communities, and have numerous advantages: Contact among people is more personal and more sustained. It is possible for every student to be well known by at least one adult in the school, whether through the formal appointment of a "personal adult advocate," or simply through ongoing contact with individual teachers or other staff members. There is a sharper educational focus. This allows individual students' progress to be monitored on a regular basis. There is a greater likelihood of a sense of shared purpose, more commitment to success, and a clearer emphasis on staff problem solving. Parents can be better served. If that is done, parents will begin to feel ownership and begin to take more responsibility for overseeing their children's education and learning. Smaller schools can be flatter, less bureaucratic, organizations. American school systems have a much higher ratio of administrators to teachers than do school systems in most other countries. With a flatter organization, there are fewer top-down directives; teachers have more input into decision making; and more resources can be brought to the front line. Smaller schools can have more flexible structures and schedules; they are better able to simplify complex rules and procedures, avoid regimentation, and encourage collaboration across disciplines. Smaller, more communal schools can group students with diverse talents and interests together for instruction, instead of slotting students into different educational paths To create smaller schools, districts must clear numerous hurdles. Many locales continue to build large schools, convinced that economies of scale make them more efficient. In districts where high schools compete for prestige or rewards through extracurricular activities, including sports, larger schools have a bigger pool of talent upon which to draw. Students with special needs are sometimes better served by larger schools, which can offer a wider array of support services. While it is true that small schools havedrawbacks, including some foregone efficiencies, these are relatively unimportant in light of the overall ineffectiveness of very large high schools." recent findings http://www.ael.org/eric/digests/edorc967.htmlearning most equitable in small schools http://www.aera.net/pubs/eepa/abs /eepa1931.htm educators call for "schools within a school" as downsized schools improve learning http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed414615.html
  12. The land has already been donated by the Canton of Geneva to International School of Geneva in ribbon-cutting ceremony for new campus at Grand-Saconnex  See Tribune de Geneve 7 November 2000  Ouvert depuis la dernière rentréé scolaire, le Geneva Campus du Grand-Saconnex a été officiellement inauguré hier matin en présence des autorités municipales.   Avec ce nouvel établissment de 95 élèves agés de 5 a 11 ans, la Fondation de l'Ecole internationale possède ainsi cinq institutions à Genève.
  13. Background on petition: Signatures received on petition forces the Board to convene a Consultative General Assembly.  Over 300 signatures of La Chât parents (in addition to the 330 plus signatures sent before half-term) requesting the EGCA were posted to the Board Chairman October 25. 175 LGB signatures were sent on October 12th.  By 31 October - a total of 697 signatures of parents and teachers were received and posted to the Governing Board.  Students at LGB and La Chât have been organizing their own petitions against the 10 - 13 option, with 185 signatures   collected so far.  Petitions were started as  PTA Calls for Extraordinary session of the Board of Governors.  Due to enormous response, board has scheduled session 28 November.  See letter 20 October.
  14. The Tribune de Geneve 12 July 2000 quotes JJ Streuli that International School is searching for site for new school to accomodate Proctor & Gamble and accepts 2 million francs from them.  CDG minutes says total donation from P&G is 5 million when you include "prepayment" of tuition - for students who haven't even applied yet!   Do they want their kids split between 3 campuses?  The new building will cost 50-60 million - is this mostly out of capital development funds levied on previous students?  Can we afford a separate 10-13 school considering Geneva's industry history? 4 June 1998 Proctor and Gamble sell their downtown Geneva building to WIPO.  10 June 1999 Proctor & Gamble to cut 15,000 jobs, shut 10 plants http://detnews.com/1999/biz/9906/10/
  15. During La Chât Pedagogical Day October 23 half the day was given over to discussing the nature of the new campus. 70 plus anglophone and francophone, primary and secondary staff were present.     The rejection of the 10-13 option was communicated to the Board members (including Mr. Streuli) who attended the La Chât Campus Development Group meeting (see Minutes from CDG 23 OCtober ). 

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