History
Located at the heart of the Headquarters of Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE/NATO), the SHAPE International School reports directly to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
To date, the Alliance comprises 27 countries (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States).
These countries were joined by families of 20 other nationalities, whose countries are members of the Partnership for Peace.
The International School has national sections, but under the terms of the agreement signed between SHAPE and Belgium on May 12, 1967 and confirmed on March 19, 1968, concerning the establishment and operation of the International School, Belgium has undertaken to set up an international teaching section for children whose countries do not have their own teaching section.
Located at the heart of the Headquarters of Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE/NATO), the SHAPE International School reports directly to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
To date, the Alliance comprises 27 countries (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States).
These countries were joined by families of 20 other nationalities, whose countries are members of the Partnership for Peace.
The International School has national sections, however, by virtue of the agreement signed between SHAPE and Belgium on May 12, 1967 and confirmed on March 19, 1968, concerning the installation and operation of the International School,
Belgium has undertaken to set up an international pedagogical section for children from countries that do not have their own pedagogical section.
Within SHAPE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (S.I.S.), Mrs. CLAES Lutgardis, Managing Director, and Mrs. Laurence ERNOTTE, Deputy Managing Director, ensure harmony between the management of all SHAPE schools.
Even if the program is determined by the Ministry of Education of the French Community, international sections should not be considered as Belgian schools likely to welcome foreign children, but as schools intended for foreign children passing through Belgium (3-year stay, in general), as such, they must :
accept, at any time during the school year and at any level of study, any national of a SHAPE member country of school age, whatever their mother tongue;
ensure the integration of foreign pupils into the Belgian education system for the duration of their stay in Belgium;
given the lack of concordance between the curricula of the different countries represented, the international school has to provide remedial teaching (mainly in French, mathematics, Latin and science);
foster a global outlook, facilitated by the international nature of the school and in-depth knowledge of SHAPE’s two vehicular languages, French and English;
prepare them to be humanists through cultural, sports and artistic activities that complement the school curriculum;
prepare students for their return to their home countries and admission to universities worldwide.
Every foreign student is a special case, and every teacher is concerned to treat them as such.
