History

One of the goals of Adventure Year is to learn from the top international schools in Europe and Asia, so I absolutely had to visit the original! The International School of Geneva also known as “Ecolint”, is known as the world’s first international school. It was founded in September, 1924 by the League of Nations (precursor to the United Nations) and the International Labour Organization with a focus on global citizenship education.

Notable Ecolint alumni include Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India and Nobel Peace Prize winner Pablo Osvaldo Canziani. Also of note, the late Jane Goodall visited as a guest speaker in 2024. 

In the 1960s a group of Ecolint teachers spearheaded the creation of what is now known as the International Baccalaureate (IB). The IB is now taught in over 4,700 schools worldwide.

From these foundational beginnings to today, Ecolint is still very much on the cutting edge of education. Boasting three campuses, serving a total of 4,450 students from over 60 nationalities, and employing more than 1,200 staff.

Highlights

My contact at Ecolint’s La Grande Boissière campus was Jamie Williams, who has served for a total of 21 years as a teacher, principal, and his current role as Head of Admissions and Extracurricular Activities. Jamie is a visionary leader with a passion for education projects that make a difference. In addition to his title roles he’s leading the charge on Ecolint’s Learner Passport, a holistic education tool, which as Jamie says, “celebrates all learning”. This brilliant project isn’t just something they’re keeping for themselves, they’re purposefully sharing it with other schools in multiple countries to elevate holistic education. 

Welcoming spaces is something that my mentor, Stephen Ladas – Head of Schools at ICS Bangkok, taught me about. The concept is for admin, faculty, and staff to constantly consider the question, “how welcoming is our environment?” Who greets people as they enter campus? Do admin, faculty, and staff interact with visitors as they move around campus? Is the signage clear and abundant? Are the hallways well lit? Are the classrooms clean? Are admin and teachers visible in the hallways? Ecolint is certainly a welcoming space. The signage reminded me of a university campus, the staff were kind and helpful, and the spaces were well maintained.

Are you ready for some wild statistics? Each week Ecolint runs 300 extracurricular activities (ECAs), some of which are open to children in the surrounding community, and employs as many as 600 external staff to facilitate the activities until 7:30 PM. What an operation! This is evidence of Ecolint’s commitment to their community. They also offer numerous events to the surrounding community including fine arts shows from artists around the world, musical performances, and comedians.

I caught a glimpse of their cutting edge infrastructure for teaching and learning. Because it’s a bilingual school (French/ English), they separate the two wings of the divisional buildings by language. French instruction on one end and English on the other. Each wing has classrooms off of the end like branches on a tree. In the middle, the trunk of the building contains specials classes, ESL, ELA, or core French and a main stairwell.  

Their Institute of Learning and Teaching not only provides opportunities for their faculty to develop as professionals, they also open courses to the broader education community. The institute also curates their own peer reviewed Research Journal, sourced from the broader education community, and provides the Publications free of charge. The institute is a great example of professional development and furthering education programming, which is a key indicator and proliferator of positive school culture. 

3 Key Takeaways

• Celebrate all Learning: Recognize and encourage learning that takes place after school, in clubs, on weekends, and summer breaks to provide a more holistic view of your students as learners. After all, in life, learning doesn’t always take place in a classroom. How can your school celebrate holistic learning? Check out Ecolint’s Learner Passport for more info. 
• Community Center: If you welcome the outside world into your school it will never be empty. What if your school became a hub for the surrounding community? 
• Ship Your Art: Find ways to share what your school does best with other schools. Like Seth Godin says, “Ship your art”. Ecolint “ships” peace education and being on the cutting edge of international schools. What art can your school ship?

Build culture, unlock potential. Visit my Connect Page or send a message on LinkedIn. 

Stay tuned for more international school visits – up next the American International School of Vienna!

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah 

References

Ecolint. (2025). Institute of Learning and Teaching. https://www.ecolint-institute.ch/en

Ecolint. (2025). Learner Passport. https://www.ecolint.ch/en/learner-passport

Ecolint. (2025). Our History. https://www.ecolint.ch/en/our-history

Ecolint. (2025). Publications. https://www.ecolint-institute.ch/en/publications

International Baccaleaureate. (2025). 50 Years. https://ibo.org/50years/#1968