Boarding FAQ

Our small boarding community creates a ‘home away from home’ where children can thrive in an international family environment. The boarding staff closely follow the personal and academic development of each child.

You can find the term dates on the school calendar.

We offer a full boarding programme with many exciting activities and trips at the weekend. We expect students to take part in this programme as it helps with integration and provides the experiences that help educate students in the wider context. Every so often during a parent’s visit the students can join their family for the weekend with previous permission.

Generally students share rooms of two, three or four beds. Students are placed in rooms with students of their same age.

Students can sleep a little bit longer and they enjoy a wonderful brunch at 10:00. Activities are organised on site or an excursion to visit an exciting destination in Switzerland. At JFK we insist that students stay in the very first weekend of the academic year.

It the student’s parents are visiting students can leave the boarding house for the weekend from Friday at 16:00 to Sunday at 17:00, subject to the following conditions:
-The weekend permission to leave is requested by the parents by 16.00 on the Wednesday before the weekend.

The school is closed during the holidays in October, Christmas, February, Easter and summer. Howeverthere may be a trip offered during all holidays except at Christmas and in the summer.

Boarders should attend all lessons. The boarding hour is open one day after the holidays start. The boarding house is open in general one day before lessons start, and transport from Geneva airport can be provided upon request with extra charge.

Boarders must be back in the boarding house by 17:00 on the day before the start of lessons. The boarding house is open in general one day before lessons start, and transport from Geneva airport can be provided upon request with extra charge.

Our aim is to produce sociable, mature, courteous and active students who enjoy being part of the community. While there is no particular type of student that we are looking for, in fact variety of personality is one of the great strengths of the boarding experience, boarders tend to be students who contribute a great deal to school life, and achieve a great deal.

Yes there is a School uniform, and there is a dress code on the weekends which all students must respect.

All duvets, pillows and bedding is provided and washed by the school.

The boarding house has access to the school’s network giving access to the Internet via WiFi. Middle school students are required to have a laptop (Mac) and for primary students it is optional. The use of electronics have specific times of use in the boarding house.

The boarding house has a wireless network. Boarders can connect to the school network system in order to access the internet from their room. Naturally the school blocks unsuitable websites, and restricts access to gaming and social websites during the school day and the allocated homework time in the prep time.

We insist that all pupils have a working mobile phone, and that the number is given to boarding house staff. Mobile phones provide an extra level of security for all our students and they find them invaluable for contacting family. Mobile phones are not allowed to be used in school time, in meals, in study hall, or after lights out.

Each student has allocated afternoon prep time. Boarding parents on duty in the prep time are on hand to help out with any difficulties.

Transport from and to Geneva airport can be provided with extra charge the day before lessons start and finish for major holidays (Fall, Christmas, February, Easter and Summer).

The boarding parents are the main point of contact, and they will write within the first few days of the start of the year to introduce themselves.

All meals are compulsory. All boarders take breakfast and supper in the dining room together, while lunch during the week is taken with the rest of the day students.

All students can collect pocket money from the house parents. The school recommends that students are not given directly any amount of pocket money. Recommended amounts CHF10 to CHF20 per week according to their age.

Passport holders of certain countries do not need a visa. Contact the school office if you need to enquire about this. Where they are required, visas need to be applied for by the families in their home countries. Once this initial step is taken, the School can monitor the application process. All boarders require a permit to reside in Switzerland – this will be taken care of by the school.

We allocate students to rooms based on age, on our experience and on the best educational interests of students. Boarders are expected to stay in their rooms for the year. Although we take views into consideration wherever possible, parents or students cannot choose their rooms.

The boarding house has a laundry facilities which are used by the house parents every day. Students are required to deposit their diary laundry in baskets assigned for washing and will pick up the next day their clean and folded laundry. Student sometimes participate to the folding and distribution of the laundry.

Students are expected to hand in their passports and permits to the house parents for safe keeping. We recommend valuable items are not brought to school, but when they are these items must be named and securely stored with the house parents.

There are shops and cafes near campus, and once a week students have ‘free time’ where they are allowed to visit the local shops in Saanen.

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Our small boarding community creates a ‘home away from home’ where children can thrive in an international family environment. The boarding staff closely follow the personal and academic development of each child, supporting their needs and maintaining a strong relationship with parents.