Crans-Montana, just above Lens here, is a winter sports paradise, so students at the new Regent Crans-Montana College can expect to spend time outdoors.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The village of Lens, near Crans-Montana in canton Valais, has been given the go-ahead to open an international school for at least 250 students that will cost CHF50 million and eventually accept students from ages 6 to 17. The secondary school will be built once the primary school is operating.
Four-fifths of the financing will come from banks and the rest from private investors.
The new Régent Crans-Montana College faced a number of legal oppositions, but the last complaints filed were settled or withdrawn recently with help from the canton, which has strongly supported the project as part of its efforts to encourage foreign firms to invest in the region.
The school will create 80 jobs.
Lens Commune President David Bagnoud points to the additional monies that the area should see thanks to overnight stays by parents, noting that Aiglon, an international school in Villars, accounts for 30 percent of tourism revenues in the resort town.
The development of the school and its structure is being done with input from the International School of Geneva, which has 88 years of experience as an international school and 4,300 students on three campuses in the Lake Geneva region.
The new school in the Alps will initially have room for 56 junior school boarding students and 50 day students that will include eight classrooms and 14 bedrooms.
The secondary school will have room for 150 boarding students ages 13 to 17 and 50 day students. It will house 25 classrooms, two study halls, library, restaurant, 72 bedrooms and a number of apartments for staff.
