Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz Zuoz, Switzerland Head of School July 2017 www.lyceum-alpinum.ch/en/
MISSION We provide our students with an education which promotes intellectual, physical and emotional balance. We work to create a thriving, international school community where young people from the Engadin and around the world can build the foundations for fulfilling successful lives. Inspired by the traditions of “The Spirit of Zuoz”, our students forge bonds of friendship which last a lifetime and they develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed as global citizens.
The Position Nestled in a high valley of the Swiss Alps overlooking the quaint village of Zuoz is the beautiful campus of Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz (LAZ). One of the oldest private boarding schools in Switzerland, Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is distinguished by its unique identity: both intimate and international, academically challenging and holistically engaging, indebted to a pastoral heritage and committed to educating citizens of the world. In the spirit of the school’s motto—”mens sana in corpore sano”— a talented team of 55 administrators, faculty, and staff focus not only on students’ intellectual development, but on their physical, social, and emotional growth as well. Students at LAZ are given highly individualized attention and guidance; this is a place where every young person is known. Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz seeks a new Head of School, effective July 2017. The ideal candidate will be someone whose educational philosophy aligns with the school’s focus on educating the whole person. S/he will be a visible presence, capable of connecting with and inspiring faculty across the school’s diverse community, and an articulate, passionate spokesperson for the mission of the school. The next Head will also be a “people person”— someone who authentically engages with students, validates the good work of colleagues, and fosters innovative thinking and professional growth in his or her staff in order to create an optimal learning environment for students.
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School History The Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz of today traces its origins back to the ambitions of five influential men from Engadine, who established the “Institut Engiadina” in 1904 to meet the needs of international families visiting the nearby town of St. Moritz. Offering the health benefits of fresh alpine air and a strong educational program, the school opened with two teachers, one director, and 22 male students of five nationalities—ten Swiss, four Americans, three French, three English, and two Russians. Over the next several years, the school grew into a thriving school for boys, valued for its balanced emphasis on book learning and physical exercise. By 1913, new facilities were needed to house the nearly 60 boys enrolled. Grosshaus—the oldest boarding house on campus—was built. It featured a theatre, concert hall, dining hall, indoor pool, and medical centre, as well as the director’s residence. The school adopted its current name in 1921, at the same time the canton of Graubünden granted the school permission to conduct state examinations. Shortly thereafter, in 1922, LAZ purchased a meadow near the river Inn totaling 60,000 square meters for sports fields. The campus expanded again in 1964 with the addition of new classrooms, labs, and requisite storage for science instruction in the Arvenhaus. In 1999, nine years after admitting female boarders for the first time, Chesa Arpiglia opened, providing 40 modern girls’ residences as well as five multipurpose classrooms.
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Expansion of the school’s academic programs paralleled the growth of its facilities. The first German Arbitur examinations were administered in 1930, and the school’s Swiss Matura certificates were federally recognized in 1973. In 1997, LAZ added the International Baccalaureate program, establishing itself as a premier international school with a unique array of academic offerings to meet the individual needs and desired pathways of a diverse student body. Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz marked its 100th anniversary in 2004 with a celebration that lasted several days and attracted alumni from around the globe. The school earned accreditation from the Council of International Schools in 2008.
The School Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz currently enrolls 255 students aged 12-18. Two-thirds of students are enrolled in the school’s international boarding program, which draws from over 30 countries, while the remaining third are day students from across the Engadine region of eastern Switzerland. The school benefits from a tradition and history that is encapsulated in “the Spirit of Zuoz”—an expression used frequently at LAZ to articulate a collective emphasis on tolerance, mutual respect, self-discipline, and the pursuit of lifelong learning. While everyone at LAZ shares the same goal for students—the successful attainment of a high-school diploma and the critical thinking and study skills that come with it— equal importance is placed on physical wellness and social responsibility. Nearly 100% of graduates go on to pursue degrees at colleges and universities around the world, and all possess the knowledge and ability to be successful, impactful, global citizens.
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SCHOOL MOTTO
“mens sana in corpore sano” FAST FACTS • • • • •
Founded: 1904 Grades Served: Age 12 - 18 Total Enrolled: 255 Total Faculty: 55 Student-to-Teacher Ratio: 5:1
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Campus Size: 130,000 sq. meters 76% faculty with advanced degree Nationalities represented: 43 Curriculum: IB, Swiss Matura, German Abitur
Academics International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is distinguished by its diverse curricular offerings. Roughly half of the students at LAZ pursue the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) in 11th and 12th grade. Beginning in grades 7 and 8, these students build a solid foundation in the core subjects of English, German, mathematics, and science alongside instruction in music, art, information technology, and global citizenship. This preparation continues in 9th and 10th grade, as students further their core academic studies while developing the essential study skills and maturity needed for success in the IBDP, as well as for a life of learning. Students in the IB Diploma Programme meet every two weeks with an academic tutor to review recent performance and plan for upcoming work. These dedicated tutors also act as liaisons between students, teachers, and parents to ensure all are aligned on academic goals, expectations, and progress. In addition to this Academic Tutorial Programme, the school has a Learning Centre committed to providing support services for students with learning differences or emotional difficulties. Likewise, gifted and talented students are appropriately challenged with customized study and faculty to guide independent study in areas of particular strength or interest. CAS Programme Another key component of the IB curriculum at Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is the CAS (Creativity-Action-Service) Programme. During their two years in the IBDP, students pursue self-driven projects and activities that provide real-world contexts for learning and opportunities for self-reflection and personal growth. Students select activities in line with their individual interests and passions. These may be service-oriented, such as reading to the elderly; action-oriented, such as learning a new sport; or creativity-
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oriented, such as pursuing a thematic study in visual art. Students are expected to demonstrate weekly progress toward the achievement of short- and long-term goals related to these activities, and to reflect upon challenges and successes at various points in their progression toward completion of them. The aims of the CAS Programme are to promote character development by encouraging students to take on new challenges, make positive contributions in their community, engage in issues of global importance, and gain appreciation for the ethical implications of their actions. The program is also supported by a one-day seminar in conjunction with LGT Bank, during which LGT professionals lead workshops that relay valuable, real-world insights and guide students in the early stages of their CAS projects. University Entrance Examinations: Swiss Matura & German Abitur The majority of day students, as well as a selection of international students, pursue coursework in preparation for the Swiss Matura and/or the German Abitur entrance examinations rather than the IB Diploma Programme, depending upon their future aspirations. These curricula prepare students for university with a curriculum that is broad in scope, while at the same time offering opportunities to specialize in subject areas of particular interest. The primary language for the Matura and Abitur curriculum is German, though students can elect to complete a bilingual Matura track in German/English or German/Italian. Additionally, Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz offers supplementary language learning for students in need of English as an Additional Language or German as a Foreign Language. Also offered is the Latinum—an extension of the school’s two-year Latin requirement that culminates in a certificate which, if successfully attained, exempts students from Latin language requirements in college.
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Physical Campus When asked what makes Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz so special, nearly everyone—students, faculty, and board members alike—note the breathtaking beauty of the campus setting. The school occupies 130,000m2 in Engadine, a long, high valley in the Eastern part of the Swiss Alps. Set against a backdrop of majestic mountain peaks and overlooking the quintessential alpine town of Zuoz, the campus features 12 buildings including five boarding houses as well as ample sports fields, an ice rink, tennis courts, and a driving range for golf. In 2011, LAZ repurposed an older portion of campus that once held the school’s swimming pool and constructed in its place a state-of-the-art, flexible theatre. The Zuoz Globe is built from locally sourced larch and seats 99 people on three sides—a design that alludes to Shakespeare’s Globe but can also be adapted for a diverse array of concerts, conferences, and performances. The most recent campus expansion is currently underway and scheduled for completion in fall 2017. The Urezza building is a key part of the school’s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan, which is focused on making quality enhancements across the school, as well as increasing enrollment. The construction will feature new residences for 64 girls, as well as multi-use and arts classrooms, a dining room extension and cafeteria, and a sports area. The project broke ground in October 2015. More details about the Urezza building project are available online.
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Student Life at LAZ Boarding Program Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz welcomes approximately 200 students to its co-educational, international boarding program each year. The residential experience at LAZ evolves with students as they grow and mature, providing a familial, structured experience for younger students, and introducing increasing autonomy into students’ schedules as they grow older. Across all age groups and houses, however, there is an emphasis on mutual respect and trust amongst students and staff. Male students occupy three of the five boarding houses at Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz. Spencer House provides a close-knit, family environment for boys between the ages of 12 and 15. Leisure time is organized and structured, and all boys live in double rooms. Grosshaus is home to the school’s eldest boys, age 17-18, and offers plenty of freedom to help young men prepare for the college experience. They are nonetheless encouraged to remain active, particularly in athletics. Kleinhaus is dedicated exclusively to 15- and 16-yearold boys and provides the essential support systems needed at this life stage. Sports provide an important outlet for their energy, as well as help students to build positive peer relationships and a strong sense of team spirit—a longstanding trait of the “Zuoz Spirit.” Girls between ages 12 and 16 live in double rooms in the Mädcheninternat, paired with roommates of a different nationality in order to foster cross-cultural awareness and
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tolerance. A strong emphasis is placed on helping young girls to discover and pursue their unique talents. The senior girls (ages 17-18) reside in the newest of the boarding houses, Chesa Arpiglia; older girls are encouraged to build confidence and self-reliance in preparation for university life and beyond.
Community Weekends Approximately one weekend per month is designated as a “community weekend,” when all boarding students stay on campus and participate in one of several different activities. Day students are always included in community weekend events, which may be educational, athletic, or leisurely in nature. Some examples include horseback riding, museum and concert visits, whitewater rafting, and trips to the cinema. During winter, the school takes advantage of its alpine surroundings with skiing and other snow sports.
House Competitions All first-year boarding students are also assigned to one of three Houses—not to be confused with their boarding residences—to which they belong for the entirety of their student experience at LAZ. Students elect a house captain each year, who works together with staff to orchestrate house matches throughout the year. Various interhouse competitions foster a collegial rivalry and sense of belonging amongst the student body, as students accumulate points for winning sports games, quiz nights, and other incentivized habits, such as the timely return of library materials. At the end of each year, the Games Master names the House Champion, who carries the title with pride throughout the following year.
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Athletics From its founding, Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz has placed strong emphasis on physical exercise and participation in recreational sports. The values of team spirit and fair play—key pillars of the “Spirit of Zuoz”—are fundamental to the school’s physical education program. All boarding students are required to engage in hour-long sports lessons twice a week; many day students elect to participate as well. Additionally, the school sponsors a wide variety of sports games—akin to sports clubs at other boarding schools—which vary with the season. These include cricket, fives, football, tennis, rugby, golf, basketball, baseball, mountain biking, volleyball, curling, ice-skating, ice hockey, skiing, and snowboarding.
Arts All aspects of the arts program at Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz seek to advance students’ emotional and creative development. Musically inclined students can nurture their talents and refine techniques in choir or concert band; they also have the opportunity to take individual instrumental or voice lessons from LAZ faculty and/or local music professionals. The visual arts program is geared toward fostering students’ individual talents as well. The program focuses on developing fundamental techniques in a range of mediums, in addition to a self-reflective and critical eye. Those in the International Baccalaureate Programme may pursue IB Visual Arts—a two-pronged course that is both analytical and exploratory, balancing research, theory, and history of art with studio work. The theatre program at LAZ is a vibrant one, particularly since the construction of the Zuoz Globe. The school offers IB Theatre for students with a passion for dramatic arts, where they examine theatrical traditions from a global perspective and engage in the critical study of theatre’s history, theory, and culture. This accompanies the workshopping of original or scripted works. The school also has two theatre companies open to all students: the Shakespeare Company gives German-speaking students the opportunity to interpret and reinvent the work of the world’s greatest playwright and dramatist, while the English Theatre Company is geared toward international students, and hosts performances of English classics. Recent performances include Lord of the Rings, The Great Gatsby, and The Frankenstein Project.
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Clubs & Activities Extracurricular clubs at LAZ are sponsored by a faculty member, but otherwise largely student-driven. For this reason, the list of sponsored clubs at LAZ is ever-changing according to students’ motivations and passions. From Debate Club and Model UN to Creative Writing and Science Club, LAZ students groom their leadership skills and forge new friendships as they pursue their interests. Two other programs are important extracurricular aspects of student life at Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz: The Corps of Volunteers and the Student Organisation. The Corps of Volunteers organize annual service learning trips to underprivileged communities, rebuilding and bringing relief to people in need. These trips are powerful and eye-opening experiences for students as they come to witness social and economic issues first-hand and gain a new level of gratitude for the privileges in their own lives. Students at Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz can also become leaders within the confines of the school community through the Student Organisation. Members act as representatives of the student body, communicating and advocating on their behalf with teachers and administration. The intent of the Student Organisation is to foster a sense of camaraderie among students across the school, and encourage adolescents to take ownership of their LAZ experience within the school’s existing policies and structure.
The Zuoz Club As a school with a rich history and sense of tradition spanning over 100 years, the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz boasts a dedicated alumni base. Today, 2,200 former students in 42 different countries make up the Zuoz Club, an alumni organization established in 1923 to help sustain the Spirit of Zuoz well beyond adolescence and in spite of vast geographic and cultural differences. Divided into 18 regional groups, The Zuoz Club hosts biannual gatherings in Zuoz each summer and winter in addition to events organized by each regional group. The Zuoz Club also works with its alma mater to publish a magazine called the Zuoz Zeitung two times per year. Recent issues are available here.
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Zuoz, Switzerland Zuoz is an enchanting alpine village in the Engadine region of eastern Switzerland, which shares borders with Italy, Liechtenstein, and Austria. The majority of Zuoz’s 1,250 residents speak German, though many still speak a regional dialect of Romansh. Foreign nationals make up 40% of the town’s population—a statistic for which LAZ is largely responsible. Just 1% of Zuoz is settled, while the vast majority of its 65 square kilometers are either allotted to farmland or remarkably untouched natural forests, rivers, glaciers, and mountain slopes. Arguably the loveliest village in the Upper Engadine, Zuoz’s picturesque town center features cobblestone streets and classic Romanesque architecture. Visitors marvel over the large patrician houses, with their distinctive bay windows and elegant stone etchings. Although steeped in long history and tradition, the municipality has also evolved to accommodate the region’s burgeoning tourism industry, from its local ski resort to its handful of attractive inns and modern Hotel Castell. Other local attractions include an art museum dedicated to the painter Giovanni Segantini, who lived out his final years in the area, and the Nietzsche Museum, dedicated to the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Zuoz has plentiful hiking trails, snow parks, and other outdoor playscapes well suited for anyone with a love for the outdoors. That said, Zuoz remains somewhat off the “beaten track.” Neighboring towns of St. Moritz and Pontresina are more widely known tourist attractions. St. Moritz, where the Winter Olympic Games were held in 1928 and 1948, is particularly popular thanks to its posh ski resorts and high-end hotels. Albeit remote, Zuoz is accessible via well-maintained roadways as well as the Rhaetian Railway, considered one of Europe’s most scenic and interesting journeys by train. The regional airport in nearby Samedan offers chartered connections to Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Milan, and Munich.
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Opportunities and Challenges The Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is a unique institution with a long and rich history, a dedicated alumni base, and a special combination of the Swiss Matura and IB Diploma Programmes. The school’s beautiful facilities are spotlessly maintained and enlivened by a diverse mix of local and international students from 30 nations, alongside a talented faculty, all in the picturesque setting of a charming Alpine village. At the same time, LAZ faces significant challenges that will need to be addressed by its next Head of School, working in close collaboration with the Board, the teachers, and staff. Opportunities for the next Head of School include:
• Partnering with a committed Board of Directors who have provided stability, continuity, and long-term vision for the school;
• Bringing new ideas that promote teaching and learning skills for the 21st century; • Working in one of the most beautiful parts of the world in a safe, secure, and
healthy environment that presents many opportunities for outdoor enjoyment; • Growing the enrollment and academic reputation of a school that has the physical space and the potential to be a top international boarding school. Challenges for the next Head of School include:
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Addressing declining enrollment and high tuition fees; Easing tensions between Matura and International Program teachers; Improving the morale of staff; Introducing a more 21st century approach to teaching and learning; Inculcating the spirit of in loco parentis on behalf of boarding students, building a stronger sports and activities program for boarding students in particular.
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Qualifications and Qualities of the Next Head of School The next Head of School at Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz will ideally be:
• A capable leader who truly embraces its mission, location, size, and culture; • Someone whose educational philosophy aligns with the school’s motto of “Mens
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sana in corpore sano,” and who can inspire a team of administrators, teachers, and staff to focus on the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical growth of young adults; Capable of motivating teachers to be—and hiring ones who will be—multi-faceted role models for young adults, who will go beyond teaching in the classroom to also serve as sports coaches and club sponsors, personal and academic advisors, and dorm supervisors; An articulate, passionate spokesperson for the mission of the school; A “people person” who likes students and will show interest in their activities, both academic and co-curricular; A team-builder who will be aware of and value his or her colleagues’ efforts; a motivator who will challenge his or her staff to be innovative and grow professionally; A visible presence who will spend significant time out of the office, visiting with teachers, administrators, staff members, and students “on their turf” to show genuine interest in and respect for the work that they are doing; A trusted leader able to make decisions in the best interests of the school; An all-rounder with the ability to oversee the finance, marketing, and admissions departments, who makes client satisfaction a high priority, and places the development of the children at the center of his/her actions; Fluent in English and/or German. Should be willing to learn German if no prior knowledge.
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To Apply Interested candidates should submit the following materials as separate PDF attachments in one email:
• Cover letter expressing interest in the Head of School position at Lyceum Alpinum
Zuoz; • Current résumé; • Statement of educational philosophy and practice; • List of five references with name, phone number, and email address of each. (References will be contacted only with the candidate’s permission.) Please send all materials to Art Charles and John Chandler of Carney, Sandoe & Associates: Art Charles Senior Search Consultant
John Chandler Search Consultant
art.charles@carneysandoe.com
john.chandler@carneysandoe.com
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