Student Life
An unforgettable learning and life experience
Student Life
Neuchâtel Junior College provides a wide range of extracurricular activities organized by the school and involving local high schools as well as other international schools. Teams may compete in tournaments in the local community and amongst members of the Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS).
The NJC admissions team is able to offer more information about sports and other opportunities including researching local teams and activities for families.
Leadership
The Foyer Council – This group of leaders organizes student activities and is similar to the Student Council in other schools.
Model UN – a select group of NJC students are chosen annually to attend a simulation of the United Nations once a semester with local and international schools around the world.
Life-long friendships and connections are developed as part of this amazing experience. Exceptional independence and life skills gained prepare our students for university and the global workplace.
Pensions
NJC Students have the unique opportunity to live immersed in Swiss culture. Our students become integrated with Swiss culture and daily life by living ‘en pension’ with Swiss hosts. Our dedicated Pension Coordinator takes great care and remains connected with students and their families throughout their stay.
Travel
NJC has an extensive travel program, designed to inform and inspire students’ worldview. At NJC we understand that learning happens anywhere and everywhere.
Mandatory and Optional Travel
Curriculum-based, faculty-guided travel gives students the chance to experience Europe in a safe, nurturing and knowledge-based context. Educational travel is embedded in the curriculum, some examples include: exploring the World War battlefields; real life exposure to ancient civilization through travel to Greece and Italy, Athens, Rome and Paris; and experiencing the International Business and Diplomacy Centre of Geneva.
Browse our mandatory trips offered throughout the year:
The Orientation Trip is the most exciting first week of school students will ever experience! A tradition since the school’s founding, students and faculty spend Orientation travelling through the different regions of Switzerland together. By visiting the Italian-speaking region (Locarno) and the German-speaking region (Grindelwald)—before living in the French-speaking region—students gain a sense of the interesting and diverse cultures of their new home.
The trip is designed to provide students and staff with the opportunity to get to know each other in a relaxed, casual and fun setting. What better way to learn about the program and adventures to come in the year ahead! The vast majority of students arrive at NJC without knowing anyone else, and by the end of the Orientation trip, they have truly bonded as a group. Since everyone is away from home, the bonds formed are strong and this makes for a positive, inclusive culture at the school.
A meaningful and memorable way for Canadian students to observe Remembrance Day while living in Europe.
Remembrance Day is observed on November 11th each year to recall the end of hostilities of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is in Ypres, and each year on November 11th, war veterans from many countries return to Ypres to participate in Remembrance Day ceremonies.
During this trip students travel first to Bruges where they spend the day exploring this charming medieval town. The following day is devoted to a visit to the World War I sites of Vimy Ridge and Beaumont Hamel, which still have some of the original trenches. On the third day the group head stop at Ypres, to watch the Remembrance Day ceremony held every year since 1918 at the Menin Gate. The names of thousands of soldiers who died in the area during World War I and whose bodies were never found are carved on the stone gate. After the ceremony, the group has a guided bus tour of the World War I battlefields, Tyne Cot Cemetery, the Canadian Memorial at St. Julien and Hill 62, with its museum of memorabilia of the war, including some original trenches.
Classical Civilizations Trip
On the Classical Civilizations trip to Greece and Italy, students explore Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii, Mount. Vesuvius, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Athens, to name a few destinations. Learn while experiencing the life and culture of two beautiful European countries over two weeks!
During the Second World War, the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches began the liberation of Paris. NJC students get to see these important sites first hand.
The group travels on a full-day bus tour of the Normandy Beaches to see where the Canadians, British and Americans landed on June 6, 1944 including visits to Pointe du Hoc and the D-Day Monument. Next is Arromanches where they visit the remains of the wartime artificial harbour, then onto the Juno Centre where they visit the museum and tour the bunker. The group walks along the beach to Bernières-sur-mer (code name Juno), and by the memorials to the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Before heading back, the last stop is at the Canadian cemetery at Bénysur-mer.
The students then spend a couple of days in Paris including a visit to the Louvre before heading back to Neuchâtel.
Browse our optional trips offered throughout the year:
Munich / Krakow – Munich-Dachau, Germany
Munich, founded in medieval times, played a key role in both World Wars. Our students experience a sobering visit to Dachau and learn about the rise and fall of Nazism. Munich was also home to the White Rose student resistance movement (1942-1943). Students gain a profound understanding of this city, the third largest in modern Germany.
OR
Kraków-Auschwitz, Poland
Kraków dates back to the 7th Century and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of the second World War, the city’s Jewish population was moved into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from which they were sent to extermination camps such as Auschwitz and the concentration camp at PΠaszów. Students visit Auschwitz and learn about this sobering time in history.
Zermatt Ski Week – the great NJC annual tradition! For over 25 years, during the last week of January, in between the first and second semesters, NJC students travel to Zermatt to enjoy a week of skiing in the Swiss Alps. Families are welcome and encouraged to join us for this unforgettable week. Experience a café au lait or a hot chocolate on a sunny ski chalet patio with the breathtaking Matterhorn as your backdrop. Parents and siblings from Canada and abroad are always looking forward to this amazing getaway filled with friends, families and lots of fresh powder!
A centre of medieval European trade and finance, and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. NJC students tour the main sites of this ancient metropolis, viewing Michelangelo’s sculpture of David and Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus along the way.
A ski trip is offered as an alternative to this on the same weekend to one of the exceptional local ski destinations.
Independent Travel
In addition to organized class trips, students who have met the academic and behavioral requirements, and receive permission from their parents/guardians and Head of School, are permitted three weekends of independent travel per semester to experience nearby European cities on their own. These weekends help students to develop maturity and self-confidence; to appreciate and respect different cultures and people; and to build a sense of responsibility and self-reliance.
Défis et découvertes
The découvertes or adventures into the cultural life of Switzerland deepen students’ aesthetic appreciation of the richness of Swiss heritage. NJC’s défis and découvertes not only provide students with physical and cultural challenges, but expose them to team sports, the outdoors, vineyard villages and rampart towns steeped in art, folklore and history.
