Institut International Notre-Dame du Lac

In Brief

NDL makes most sense for Catholic families or those who want a French-primary education in a genuinely prestigious right-bank setting, at fees that are meaningfully below the IB schools. It is a primary-only school, so secondary planning needs to start early - but for ages 3-11, it is one of the more distinctive options in Geneva.

Institut International Notre-Dame du Lac sits in the grounds of the 18th-century Boissier estate in Cologny, on the right bank overlooking the lake, and the setting alone distinguishes it from almost every other school in Geneva. Founded in 1946 and celebrating 80 years in 2026, NDL is a Catholic school with a trilingual model: French is the primary language of instruction, English is introduced from age 4, and German from age 8. Around 300 children attend, class sizes run between 15 and 20, and science, history and geography are taught in English through a co-teaching model where pairs of teachers deliver lessons together. The Cambridge English certification programme operates alongside the Swiss curriculum, and the school holds EcoSchool status and the Swiss Schools label.

The fees are notably below the IB and bilingual schools in Geneva - day fees run from approximately CHF 12,860 to CHF 15,760 per year, roughly half what families pay at Ecolint or CDL for equivalent years. Those figures come from third-party listing data; NDL does not publish a current fee schedule on its own website, so confirming directly with the school before applying is important. The community is close-knit and established - this is not a school with a high turnover of new international arrivals, and the parent association (APE NDL) is active. Uniform is required, the school has a canteen with half-board option, and an after-school club (NDL++) runs through the week.

NDL is a Catholic school in practice as well as in name - optional masses are held, pastoral life has a spiritual dimension, and the ethos is explicitly values-based. Families who are not Catholic attend and report no pressure, but the Catholic character is visible in daily school life rather than being purely administrative. The school is primary-only, ending at age 11, which means secondary school planning is a live conversation from around age 8 or 9. The right-bank location in Cologny works well for families settled in Cologny, Chene-Bougeries or the Eaux-Vives area - those based in the UN district or the left bank are looking at a longer commute.