International middle school
Driving change in education !
HoplaBoum International Middle School, inspired by the very best of Scandinavian educational models and active, innovative teaching approaches, is a bilingual middle school with a strong emphasis on the arts and sciences, deeply connected to nature, open to the world, and research-based.
School Overview
HoplaBoum School offers a rigorous, rich, and engaging education that respects each child’s natural rhythm and is structured around interdisciplinary projects. The school is made up of two small classes—one preschool class and one elementary class—and welcomes children from preschool through 5th grade
At HoplaBoum School, the teaching of core subjects follows the expectations of the French National Education curriculum, ensuring that every pupil develops a strong shared foundation. Unlike a traditional school, however, we organise the timetable around children’s natural rhythms, as supported by research: mornings are dedicated to foundational learning, while afternoons focus on experimentation, creativity, and exploring the living world.
Our motto, “The curriculum… yes, but more besides!”, reflects our commitment to offering pupils far more than academic instruction. Our programme, designed by a multidisciplinary team, draws on internationally recognised pedagogical approaches and is grounded in recent work in education sciences and neuroscience. The school nurtures autonomy, cooperation, self-esteem, and the joy of learning within an inclusive and caring environment.
The curriculum... yes, but more besides !
At HoplaBoum Middle School, the French National Education curriculum is our foundation… but we go further: project-based learning through Arts and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), critical thinking education, philosophy workshops, nature-based learning (outdoor classroom), and other workshops enrich every day to nurture free, curious, and engaged minds.
A International Middle School where educational rigor meets creativity, science, nature, and a sense of wonder.
A year shaped by the world’s major causes
A curriculum open to the world: the UN–UNESCO as our compass, cultures as bridges.
Our annual curriculum is built primarily around the thematic weeks and international days promoted by the United Nations and UNESCO. We use these as a guiding thread to design interdisciplinary learning sequences rooted in today’s major global challenges (education, science, culture, human rights, sustainable development, peace). In practical terms, we regularly align our projects with these international reference points (the official “International Days and Weeks” calendars) to open learning to the world, build a shared culture, and give meaning to the activities carried out in the classroom.
In addition, we also integrate major cultural celebrations (local and international) to nurture curiosity, intercultural openness, understanding of traditions, and the celebration of diversity.
The HoplaBoum Curriculum
The HoplaBoum Middle School programme is based on the French National Education curriculum, while also weaving together some of the most effective international educational approaches (the Québec Ministry of Education, the UK Department for Education (DfE), and Sweden’s Ministry of Education and Research (Utbildningsdepartementet), etc.).
2 cores
Arts
STEM
3 pillars
Languages
Eco-School
Cultural Studies
Our arts-oriented mission
Art is not a luxury, but a fundamental necessity for human development
Neuroscience today confirms what artists have always known: artistic practice profoundly shapes the brain, simultaneously strengthening creativity, emotional intelligence, abstract thinking, and cognitive abilities. Through dance, which awakens bodily awareness; theatre, which cultivates empathy and expression; music, which refines listening and coordination; and visual arts, which unleash the imagination, our school offers a complete pathway in which each discipline enriches the others. Guided by passionate professional artists—true experts in their craft—pupils do more than learn techniques: they discover universal languages that will enable them to express themselves, understand the world, and connect with others throughout their lives. Culture is not an optional extra in education; it is its beating heart—the force that shapes us into whole, sensitive, and creative human beings.
Our STEM-focused mission
Explore, Understand, Invent!
The STEM pathway is committed to cultivating a genuine scientific mindset by placing pupils at the heart of investigation and experimentation. By integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, learners develop a critical and curious approach—learning to ask meaningful questions, design rigorous experimental protocols, and develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges. This interdisciplinary approach comes to life through complex, authentic projects, enabling pupils to see how theoretical knowledge takes shape in practical, meaningful applications.
Guided by teachers who are experts in their fields, pupils benefit from high-quality support that fuels their passion for discovery. Contemporary neuroscience supports this approach, showing that active learning and authentic problem-solving stimulate neuroplasticity, strengthen synaptic connections, and promote long-term memory far more effectively than passive transmission of knowledge. Engaging in concrete challenges activates reward pathways and intrinsic motivation—both essential for deep, lasting learning.
Bilingualism as a key driver
Bilingualism at the Heart of Our Pedagogy
The Languages pillar of our middle school is built on French–English bilingualism, experienced throughout the school day so that students use both languages in a meaningful, natural way across subjects and in everyday school life. Rather than treating English or French as isolated academic subjects, we create an environment in which both languages are tools for learning, thinking, collaborating, and expressing ideas. Each subject is taught by native-speaking or bilingual specialists, ensuring authentic, high-quality exposure to both languages.
This approach is supported by research showing that bilingual education benefits not only language development, but also a wide range of cognitive and academic skills. Sustained exposure to two languages helps strengthen cognitive flexibility, attention control, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to shift between different modes of thinking. In adolescence, continuing to learn in a bilingual environment also supports deeper intellectual engagement, greater openness to other cultures, and increased confidence in communication.
By making bilingualism a lived, daily experience rather than a separate subject, we enable students to develop genuine fluency, accuracy, and ease in both languages. Our goal is to help them become confident bilingual learners who are able to understand, analyse, create, and communicate across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
Our approach is grounded in three complementary frameworks:
-
the French National Education curriculum,
-
the Cambridge international curriculum,
-
the Québec Education Program.
-
This triple ambition opens the world to students, strengthens their command of both languages, and gives them the tools to think critically, create boldly, and communicate without borders.
Eco-School
Everyday ecology, real-world impact: a school that gets hands-on with the living world.
At HoplaBoum Middle School, the Eco-Schools programme serves as a unifying thread throughout the academic year. Structured around eight major themes—food, biodiversity, climate, circularity, water, energy, health, and solidarity—it encourages students to deepen their understanding of today’s environmental and social challenges while developing the knowledge and skills to respond to them in meaningful ways.
Through interdisciplinary projects, practical action, and critical reflection, students are invited not only to learn about the world, but also to take an active role in shaping it. Each project and activity becomes an opportunity to connect academic learning with real-life engagement, fostering responsibility, initiative, cooperation, and a strong sense of agency.
Cultural Studies
A school of dialogue: philosophise, debate, cooperate
for a culture of peace.
The Cultural Studies pillar offers a space for intellectual and human exploration, where experts guide pupils through the major questions that shape our relationship with the world and with others.
This interdisciplinary programme combines philosophical and democratic debates on contemporary ethical issues, while also integrating daily body-based wellbeing practices (yoga, sophrology, and cardiac coherence breathing), recognising the unity of body and mind.
Critical thinking education is central to this approach, teaching pupils to analyse information, identify and challenge biases, and develop independent judgement. Peace education and non-violent communication are addressed as essential skills to cultivate, thereby creating an environment conducive to constructive dialogue and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
An inclusive school
Real equity, every day / Making pedagogical accessibility a priority
At HoplaBoum Middle School, inclusion is a concrete commitment: providing a high-quality education for all students by recognising both their shared needs and the more specific needs of some, so as to ensure equitable access to learning.
In daily practice, we foster pedagogical accessibility through differentiation, cooperation, and a safe, supportive school climate. When needed, this is complemented by individual accommodations and tailored adjustments designed to help each student engage, progress, and succeed.
This approach is fully aligned with the French vision of an “education for all” school, grounded in the principles of accessibility and reasonable accommodation. It also reflects a broader international ambition: to remove barriers to education and to ensure that every student is recognised, supported, and given equal value within the school community.
A failure-free school
Progress at your own pace, succeed with method
At HoplaBoum Middle School, we begin with a simple conviction: every student can succeed when learning respects their pace, needs, and ways of understanding, and when they receive regular feedback to help them improve. This approach is based on the idea of progressive mastery of knowledge and skills, rather than expecting all students to move forward at exactly the same speed. It also recognises mistakes as a valuable part of the learning process.
In practice, we use clear and structured tools that students can easily understand and use: individualised work plans and competency belts. These tools help each learner identify their current level, practise specific skills, validate them once they are secure, and then move on to the next stage. This approach supports the development of autonomy, perseverance, and metacognition—the ability to plan, reflect on one’s work, self-assess, and adjust strategies—which are widely recognised as essential for deep and lasting learning.
By making progression more visible and predictable, and by placing assessment at the service of learning, we aim to create a classroom climate built on trust. This helps reduce anxiety around evaluation, strengthens students’ sense of competence, and nurtures academic confidence, all of which are powerful drivers of engagement and success.
Outdoor Classroom — Nature-Based Pedagogy
Our middle school regularly takes learning outdoors as part of a nature-based pedagogy approach: we organise purposeful outdoor learning sessions in our planted schoolyard, in the garden, and in nearby natural spaces, so that students can observe living things, experiment, ask questions, cooperate, and develop language, while also building autonomy and responsibility.
Located on the University Grenoble Alpes campus, our school also benefits from privileged access to the Robert Ruffier-Lanche Arboretum, a remarkable educational space at the heart of the university grounds, home to more than 250 species of trees and shrubs. A true extension of the school, it serves for our students as a kind of second playground and learning environment: a living space where nature becomes at once a field of exploration, a support for teaching, and a sensitive experience of the world.
Available research indicates that “outdoor schooling” and learning in natural environments are generally associated with positive effects on well-being, motivation, certain socio-emotional skills, and, depending on the context, student engagement as well as some learning outcomes. However, it also shows that these effects depend largely on the frequency of outdoor sessions, the quality of the pedagogical framework, and the methodological robustness of the studies.
Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI)
Animal-assisted education (often described in the literature as animal-assisted services/interventions) refers to the structured, supervised integration of an animal—most often a therapy or mediation dog—in support of educational and psycho-educational objectives. In school settings, the available evidence suggests potential effects on the emotional climate and student engagement: reduced stress and situational anxiety, improved attentional readiness, enhancement of certain socio-emotional skills, and more positive attitudes toward school and learning. Results are particularly discussed for targeted formats such as “reading to a dog” programs, which aim to support motivation, confidence, and persistence in reading.
However, reviews also highlight substantial heterogeneity across protocols and variable methodological quality (e.g., modest sample sizes and risks of bias), which calls for cautious framing and rigorous implementation. In our school, this approach is therefore conceived as a complementary lever—never a substitute—and is grounded in clear safety, hygiene, and consent procedures (children/families/staff), as well as strict respect for animal welfare in line with international recommendations.
In practice, we use this approach as a complementary tool serving specific pedagogical and educational goals, within a robust framework (consent, hygiene, management of allergies/fears, interaction rules, and respect for the animal’s pace and needs). Our mediation dog is named Verdi, and he contributes to this dynamic within a defined structure. In continuity with this relationship to living systems, a chicken coop will soon be installed at the school, as a support for scientific observation, responsibility-building, and everyday education about the living world.
Our Values, Mission & Commitment
Our values
We believe education should awaken boldness rather than format minds. Our values are rooted in a radical conviction: every child carries a spark of genius within them, waiting to catch fire. We cultivate curiosity as an essential driving force, the courage to think differently, and the joy of learning as an act of resistance against systems that standardize childhood.
Here, mistakes are celebrated as a space for exploration, collaboration takes precedence over competition, and authenticity outweighs performance. We reject labels and glass ceilings: HoplaBoum pedagogy frees potential instead of constraining it, nurtures empathy as much as excellence, and develops whole human beings—bold, creative, connected to the world and to themselves.
We do not prepare children for a prefabricated future: we give them the tools to invent the one they want to live in. Because a school should never dim the light in a child’s eyes, but amplify it until it illuminates the world.
Photo gallery
Presentation
Registrations
Registrations are open throughout the year, subject to availability.
This means we can welcome students at any time during the school year, including mid-year—for example, when families move to France for a fixed period (professional relocation, temporary assignment, family transition, etc.).
To begin the process, simply contact us so we can arrange a conversation and schedule an appointment.
Tuition Fees & Pricing
Our mission is to help every child succeed in every area—academically, socially, and emotionally—within a positive and stimulating environment.
The school year runs from September 1 to June 30. Classes are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. After-school care is available every evening from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
HoplaBoum is an independent organization that receives no public subsidies. To date, we do not generate any profit; all fees are fully reinvested in educational materials, the facility, operating costs, and staff salaries, etc.
Registration Fee
€500 / year / family
Tuition
€575 / month (10 months)
€1,000 / month (2 children – 10 months)
€650 / month (partial year)
Lunch Program Fees (11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.)
€6.50 / meal (catered lunch)
€2.50 / meal (lunch box / packed lunch)
After-School Care Fees (4:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m.)
€2.50 / half-hour / family
Children's Day Camps
Wednesday Camp
€40 / day
Holiday Camp
€250 / week
We remain at your disposal should you need any further information.
* Flat-rate amounts apply regardless of the number of vacation days or absences.
** If tuition is covered by an employer (in full or in part), the cost will be recalculated.
*** This rate includes €175/month in after-school care fees, eligible for a tax credit for children under 6 (France).
**** Our costs are lower than the estimated annual cost of public schooling (€8,320, OECD/DEPP figure). (education.gouv.fr)