Cities / Brussels / Agnes School
Agnes School
Catholic international school founded in 2002 by a group of Brussels families, split across two sites: nursery and primary in Etterbeek, secondary in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.
In brief
Catholic international school founded in 2002 by a group of Brussels families, split across two sites: nursery and primary in Etterbeek, secondary in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. Bilingual French-English or French-Dutch in primary, trilingual at secondary, with the IB Diploma offered in the upper cycle as a candidate school.
Curriculum runs the Belgian programme enriched with Cambridge at primary, with the IB layer added in the final two secondary years. Stated teacher-to-student ratio of one to eight is unusually low for Brussels. Annual fees roughly 8,700 to 12,200 euros place it well below the embassy-circuit international schools.
The school is explicitly Catholic and explicit about it. That is part of the appeal for families who want a values-led environment, and equally the part some families feel limits how welcoming the community is to children from different backgrounds. Track record on academics is strong; the question for an arriving family is fit, both with the religious framing and with the relatively traditional approach to discipline and pastoral care.
Reviews
A small Brussels Catholic school built around bilingual immersion, French paired with English or with Dutch, that has grown a secondary on a second campus in Woluwe and recently added the IB Diploma in the final two years. The feel is family-scale and values-led rather than corporate international. Parent talk that does circulate is warm on the early years and the personal attention; the structural caveat sits with the Dutch track, where French speakers tend to dominate the class mix.
Positives
- Small-school feel. Family atmosphere with a high adult-to-pupil ratio and individual tutoring. The early years in Etterbeek attract the warmest praise, with parents describing close pastoral attention and a cosy multi-nationality mix.
- Bilingual immersion from 20 months. Genuine immersion model in French/English or French/Dutch tracks, with classroom time split roughly 60/30/10 across the languages by secondary. Parents in the English stream tend to report strong language outcomes.
- Catholic, values-led ethos. Identity as a Catholic school is explicit and shapes daily life. Parents who describe it positively use the language of formation and character; the school is not trying to be a secular international academy.
- IB Diploma in final two years. Authorisation to run the IB Diploma in 5th and 6th secondary on the Woluwe-Saint-Pierre campus is recent, so the cohort history is short and exam track record is still being built.
Considerations
- Dutch immersion in practice. Parents looking specifically for a French/Dutch environment talk about classrooms where French speakers dominate and authentic Dutch peer exposure is thin, even though the structural offer is there.
- Two-campus split. Primary sits in Etterbeek on Rue Louis Hap; secondary moves to Avenue Père Damien in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. Continuity of community is real, but families coordinate around two locations and the move up coincides with the language model expanding to three.