International School Of Nice (ISN)
Reviews & Information

I have been going to this school for 5 years and about to be in this school for the 6th year, this school gives you appropriate & high quality education. The teachers are mid because some of them are nice but also there are inappropriate ones; as long as I've been in this school I know that in the past 2 years at least 2 staff members where fired. I love this school I personally can't compare another school to this because this is the school that I've had most of my education in. I experienced both lower school and middle school, I'm going into the last year of middle school now. As per academics I'm not that impressed but there isn't a perfect school anywhere in the world.

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ISN is 50% school, 50% scam, 100% disappointment. Our two children endured two years at ISN (Sept 2021/June 2023) after our relocation from London to the South of France following the pandemic. With a background in selective British Private Schools, we naively believed that ISN would be the perfect fit for us. Boy, were we wrong! Upon retrospection, we can pinpoint three major flaws: 1. Concept: ISN proudly presents itself as an IB school, boasting a comprehensive approach where "individual recognition meets world topics such as global warming to form the leaders of tomorrow." Sounds impressive, right? Well, the reality is a far cry from that grandiose description. Academically, we were promised a commitment to excellence and an unwavering curriculum. However, what we found was a distressingly lax environment that discourages teachers from assigning homework and embraces an insipid "everyone gets a star" mentality. To make matters worse, students are actively encouraged to skip final exams in later years, an ill-fated attempt to camouflage the abysmally low academic standards. 2. Parents: At ISN, you encounter two groups of parents. Group A consists of wealthy parents who want their kids to succeed in their future careers. Group B comprises even wealthier parents who simply want their kids to be handled while they relax on the Cote d'Azur. Interestingly, every parent believes they belong to Group A, but in reality, they don't. Group B parents consistently undermine any effort to steer the school away from the impending disaster it is headed for. 3. Management: Saving the worst for last, the school's management is shockingly inadequate. Picture an unfunny version of Steve Carrell in "The Office." Any attempt to provide constructive criticism is met with denial, as burying their heads in the sand seems to be the prevailing culture. It's unclear whether this is due to the constraints of French labor laws, making it challenging to dismiss incompetent individuals, or simply the cynicism of someone just a couple of years away from retirement. This poor management permeates every aspect of the school. There is a massive turnover of teaching staff, children can be lost in the city without anyone caring (true story!), uniforms are suddenly made mandatory halfway through the year, and reports of adult images circulating on student phones or drug use are promptly swept under the carpet. Don't get me started on how the students influx from Russia/Ukraine were handled! If you hope to see any of your money returned (it is 20-25k) when you realize the dire situation, you'll need to threaten to sue. Solutions? Unfortunately, Monaco won't offer much bettter (e.g., ISM has same concept and same parents). Your best bet would be to have your child receive some French tutoring in advance and consider the Valbonne bilingual school. Alternatively, if your child is fluent in French, the excellent French Private School Michelet is be a viable option.

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This is a business, not a school. It is British, not International. The head of the school never leaves her office, and doesn't care about staff and students. Staff are severely underpaid, while the administration doesn't even care about their wellbeing. Avoid. It's a scam.

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The quality of the academics is very poor. The teachers are highly unmotivated, and underpaid and the ones who stay are most of the time incompetent. Do expect to have teachers who drop out in the middle of the year without any information whatsoever, mostly in high school. The school has been bought by Globeducate: the fees have increased enormously more money for the shareholders, with no benefits for the students. Very poor school for management and for academics. Stay away.

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