ISL Welcomes 1.4k Students Back to School

Today, Wednesday 28 August, the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) welcomed back its Upper School students and held parent-teacher meetings for Lower School students and their parents ahead of the 2019-20 academic year.

Wednesday marked the first day back at school for the ISL's 763 Upper School students (11-18 year-olds), whilst the parents of Lower School students (3-11 year-olds), accompanied by their children, had the chance to meet with teachers before classes resume tomorrow. In total, 1,381 students enrolled for the school year 2019-20, 195 of whom are new students joining the school. This figure is up from 1,364 in 2018-19: the intake for Lower School students rose from 612 to 618 and the number of Upper School students increased from 752 to 763 in one year.

Founded in 1963, the ISL is an independent, non-profit school that provides a standards-based international education in English for students aged 3-18 (from "pre-school" through to "12th grade"). The school currently has students from 56 different nationalities, most of whom are coming from the USA (12.9%), France (9.5%), Italy (8.7%), the UK (8.6%) and Luxembourg (8.2%).

Today, students and parents alike were treated to a musical performance by some of the ISL's staff as the new school year got underway. There were also various information stands on the school's activities and associations for students, such as after-school language and music lessons, but also for parents, namely the Parent Community Group (PCG).

Led voluntarily by four parents, Dorthe Obel, Jade Greene, Elisa Nada and Alexandra Zaal, the PCG brings together other parents wishing to be more involved in school life at the ISL. The group, which is run "for parents by parents" (as Dorthe Obel explained) with the support of the school, organises a range of activities and services, from the Pop-In-Pop-Out (PIPO) parent help desk to a dedicated "Parent Corner" on the ISL website. Dorthe Obel, one of the team leaders, added that one of the PCG's main aims is to make the ISL "more family-friendly" through its events and information sessions.

Commenting on the first day back at school, ISL’s director, Nicki Crush, said: “It is always exciting and a great pleasure to welcome our new students and new staff to the school and to see our returning students reconnecting with their friends and welcoming newcomers into the ISL community".

ISL's Lower School students will resume classes on Thursday 29 August 2019.