Institut Montana Zugerberg
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| This article, Institut Montana Zugerberg, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
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Comment: I see the IB now so I shall accept. SwisterTwister talk 17:29, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
- Comment: We only consider secondary schools notable here. SwisterTwister talk 04:15, 12 July 2017 (UTC)
Institut Montana is a Swiss/International boarding and day school located on the Zugerberg, overlooking the city of Zug and its lake. It opened in May 1926 and now takes around 300 boys and girls. Students range across 40 nationalities from age 6 up to their graduation in either the Swiss Matura or the International Baccalaureate.
| Institut Montana Zugerberg | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
Zugerberg in Canton of Zug, Switzerland | |
| Information | |
| School type | Private International Boarding School |
| Motto | My Place to Grow |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Secular |
| Established | 1926 |
| Authorizer | Council of International Schools (CIS), Canton of Zug, IBO, Cambridge CIE (IGCSE Programme) |
| Director | Dr Nils Remmel |
| Staff | ~120 |
| Faculty | 70 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Enrollment | ~300 (150 boarding students) |
| Student to teacher ratio | 1:4 |
| School fees | Boarding students CHF 75,000 per annum (varies according to age group) |
| Website | www.montana-zug.ch |
Overview
Between the ages of 6 and 10 pupils attend the bilingual (German and English) day school. Boarders are accepted from the age of 10. For students from age 12, Montana offers the Swiss Matura or the International Baccalaureate. Class sizes are kept to a maximum of 15 students and a system of personal mentoring is in place. The site on the pre-alpine Zugerberg is surrounded by meadows and woodland, and an hour away from Zurich.
History
Institut Montana was founded by Dr Max Husmann who purchased the site in 1925. The next year the school opened with 6 pupils. The campus was extended with the acquisition of the nearby Hotel Felsenegg in 1937 and the construction of laboratories, workshops, sports fields and a swimming pool. The belief that an international education would contribute towards maintaining peace across Europe guided Montana’s developing pedagogy [1].
World War 2 devastated pupil numbers, but the school kept going. In 1945, Dr Husmann was involved in Operation Sunrise, the secret negotiations that led to the surrender of the German Army in northern Italy [2]. He handed the directorship of the school to Dr Josef Ostermayer in 1946, but maintained in close contact and set up the Max Husmann Foundation (Dr. Max Husmann Stiftung) to ensure the continuation of the principles on which he founded Institut Montana.
In 1995, student enrolment fell to an economically unviable number and the board and senior management announced the school’s imminent closure. However, staff, parents, friends and alumni implemented a rescue plan under the chairmanship of Professor Beat Bernet, and the alumnus François Loeb. Funds of more than CHF3.5 million were raised, ensuring the immediate continuation of the school as well as its sustainable future.
Academics
Students between the ages of 6 and 12 attend the Bilingual Elementary School, where a full language immersion programme in English and German is followed. The curriculum is based on the primary curriculum of the Canton of Zug, adapted to prepare children for entry into the International School, with its International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, or the Swiss Gymnasium for the Swiss Matura. The Swiss Gymnasium at Montana was recognised to award the Swiss Matura by the Canton of Zug in 1936. Students can follow the traditional German or a bilingual course to gain this qualification for entry to Swiss universities. Institut Montana has been an accredited International School since 1952. Students follow the International curriculum through the Foundation Years Programme, study for the IGCSE and then the International Baccalaureate. Montana was the first residential boarding school in Switzerland to become an IB World School in 1987 [3].
Activities
The campus on the Zugerberg includes a gym, a football pitch, courts for tennis, basketball, fencing and beach volleyball and an ice-rink. In winter, when the snow has fallen, there is cross-country skiing, sledging and beginner skiing/snowboarding on the Zugerberg and visits to larger resorts for more extensive skiing/snowboarding. In summer, there are opportunities for mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, survival expeditions and swimming in the lake.
The school has a strong tradition of promoting the arts, across drama and dance, musical instruments and singing, drawing and digital photography. The school participates in the International Schools Model United Nations programme, and operates a community service programme.
Alumni
Former pupils from Montana are found all over the world filling roles in commerce, politics and the arts. Some names have become famous, including U.S. politician John Kerry, film director Marc Forster (The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace), business man Nikolas Hayek (CEO of the Swatch Group)[4]; comic artist Mike van Audenhove [5]; and Dutch Scientist, entrepreneur and inventor of biotechnologies, Willem P.C. Stemmer. U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Jackson taught French and English as a foreign language at Institut Montana in 1982 [6]
- ^ Sauerwein, Huldreich (1939). “International Education” in Problems in Modern Education Ed. E.D. Laborde. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 116–129. ISBN 978-1-107-67399-1.
- ^ Waibel, Max (1981). Operation Sunrise, 1945 Capitulation in Northern Italy, the Original Report of the Mediator. Basle: Novalis Media AG. ISBN 3-907260-33-3.
- ^ "International Baccalaureate Organisation".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Valsecchi, Flurina (23 November 2012). "Hier lernt die Elite von Morgen". Neue Luzerner Zeitung.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Liebvoller Blick auf Zürcher Eigenheiten". Tages-Anzeiger. 10 March 2009.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "President Mahama receives US Ambassador's Credentials". Business and Financial Times. 10 March 2009.
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