In this episode of Mom Life, we dive into the International School of Luxembourg with Gretchen Blanchard, a stay-at-home mom who is involved with the ISL.
Mom Life is a new parenting podcast dedicated to helping English speaking parents in Luxembourg. From creches to cremant, we’ll cover everything you need to know about living your best life in the Grand Duchy. In season 2 I’ll focus a lot on schools here in Luxembourg. Specifically, the English language options.
Choosing the right school for your kid is one of the most important decisions you can make as an expat. It not only shapes their education which will influence their adult life and career, but also their culture, sense of belonging, and well-being (or lack thereof). It is my goal this season to interview a parent from one of each of the English language school options in the country.
In episode 3, I sit down with Gretchen Blanchard. Gretchen is from New York City and has been in Luxembourg for about 5 years. She is a stay at home mom who volunteers on the leadership team of the Parent Community Group at the International School of Luxembourg, also known as ISL. She has 3 teenagers, all of whom attend school. Her children have been attending ISL the whole time they’ve lived in Luxembourg, and they intend to stay through graduation.
If the International School of Luxembourg is new to you, here are the basics: The International School of Luxembourg is a privately owned non-profit international school located in Hollerich, Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg.
It serves kids from Early Years (pre-school) through high school (secondary school) graduation. It follows the IB (International Baccalaureate) curriculum and is an IBO World School. Their mission is to endure that “everyone in our community becomes inspired, resilient and passionate about achieving what matters, anywhere in the world".
In this episode, Gretchen shares why she chose ISL for her kids. Long story short, she was coming to Luxembourg from America and wanted the easiest transition for her kids, so she was looking for a school that seemed similar to the small private school they had attended in the States.
There was an adjustment period though. One of the biggest things about ISL that they had to get used to was the “no homework” policy in primary school and middle school. As a parent, at first she felt uneasy about not reinforcing what the kids had learned at school through homework. However, after sticking around and moving through the grade levels, she now feels confident in the no homework policy for the little ones.
Her kids have been able to make the transitions from no homework to intensive home study for both the International GCSE’s and the IB (International Baccalaureate). Exams which are coming up for her older kids this spring. I should mention at the time of writing, her eldest has just been accepted to his first choice university. Congratulations to him!
In addition to the curriculum, we talk about the culture of the school – which encourages independence and self-advocacy among children, the passion teachers at ISL have for their subjects and what it’s like to be a part of the parent community there.
I also ask her about what types of children would do well in an environment like ISL, and what support and accommodation can be made for children with learning differences or disabilities.
My hope for this episode is that you’ll get more out of this interview than what you could find on google or an online forum. It’s a candid 1 on 1 conversation about what’s working and what’s not at the school. Obviously this is just one parent’s opinions, so it’s all subjective, but I do hope you’ll find it helpful. If you’re considering the International School of Luxembourg for your kids in the future or are curious about what it’s really like to go there – you’ll definitely want to tune in to this episode!
Please give it a listen and let me know what you think. You can reach me via email: momlife@rtltoday.lu or on social media @momlifeinluxembourg.
