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The Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (commonly, Lycée International or L.I. ; English: International High School of Saint-Germain-en-Laye) is a French public school located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, in the western suburbs of Paris, France. Established in 1952 as a school for the children of international personnel working at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in nearby Rocquencourt, the Lycée International caters to students with international and multilingual backgrounds. With a typical success rate of 99 to 100 percent on the French baccalauréat, the Lycée International ranks among France's top public schools and is considered to be one of the country's best public international schools.

Students at the Lycée International are required to be fluent in French and one other language taught in one of the school's thirteen national sections: American, British, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. The academic curriculum at the Lycée International supplements the standard French curriculum with additional courses in literature/language, history, and geography, taught in the language of the students' respective national sections, allowing them to pursue the option internationale du baccalauréat (OIB), the international variant of the French baccalauréat. The school's main campus at 2 bis Rue du Fer à Cheval (48.89556°N, 2.06111°W) in Saint-Germain-en-Laye contains a preschool (maternelle), a primary school (école élémentaire), a middle school (collège), and a high school (lycée). Due to the size of the student body, some larger national sections have satellite campuses for primary and middle school grades at other local schools in the area of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. All students return to the main campus for their final three (lycée-level) years. //// ✅ Added to live article. Btriple7 (talk) 03:04, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

1951–1965: SHAPE Village School, Lycée International de l'OTAN
In 1951, the then-recently established North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) created Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) as the central command for NATO military forces in Europe. SHAPE was installed at Rocquencourt, and nearby Saint-Germain-en-Laye was chosen as the place of residence for the serving officers and their families. The SHAPE Village Project, today known as the Village d'Hennemont, was built on the grounds of the Chateau d’Hennemont to accommodate 1,500 officers and soldiers, and 300 families from 12 nationalities.

Shortly following the inauguration of the Village d'Hennemont in October 1951, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then 1st Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of SHAPE, proposed the creation of a school with multilingual and multicultural education for the children of SHAPE personnel. On January 10, 1952, the SHAPE Village School began classes with 18 students under the direction of the school's first headmaster (proviseur) René Tallard. By the end of the school year, 150 primary school children were on the register. A year later, 400 students were enrolled of which 200 were French students from Saint Germain and other local towns.

In 1954, the school was officially renamed École Internationale de l’OTAN (International NATO School). Throughout the 1950s, the iconic Chateau d'Hennemont became the school's central hub, with classrooms being added to its upper floors and eventually a full-service cafeteria installed in its basement. Funding from SHAPE provided the school with new laboratory and audio/visual equipment, musical instruments, and other materials, and financed the construction of a new flagship building, completed in 1960.

From 1961, senior students prepared for the Diplôme des Ecoles Internationales and the following year, the school was renamed the NATO International Lycée (Lycée International de l’OTAN). The founding proviseur, René Tallard, retired in 1965.

1965–1989
Not only did 1965 mark the retirement of the much respected M Tallard, it was also the year in which President de Gaulle decided to pull France out of NATO’s military operations. NATO, and SHAPE, were forced to find a new European base, in Belgium, and the Lycée International de l’OTAN lost two thirds of its pupils at a stroke. It was an immediate challenge for the new proviseur, Edgar Scherer. His was the delicate task of working with the remaining two sections – the German and the Dutch – to persuade the educational authorities, both in France and overseas, to rebuild the life of the school which, would from now on need to count on the support of "economic expatriates" to replace those of the original military community.

By 1968, under Scherer’s leadership and direction, the school was building up strength with six sections – German, Dutch, British, American, Danish and Italian.

1989–present
Scherer’s successor, Jean Pierre Maillard, had a different challenge: modernising the infrastructure of a school, which had been expanding again over more than twenty years. Replacing pre-fabricated buildings with more lasting structures was now a priority.

Thanks to state funding, the result was a new campus, including a fine new primary building. Under Maillard, other projects advanced too: the development of the network of partner schools, the drafting of a "projet d’établissement", the creation of the Japanese section in 1993; the embracing of the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat as the final exam for senior Lycée students, and the renovation of the chateau.

In 1997, Maillard handed the baton on to Patrick Charpeil, who focused attention on the administrative complexities of the school, clarifying the legal basis of the Lycée and its component parts. Charpeil continued to oversee the restoration of the chateau and successfully liaised and lobbied with the supervising educational authorities to advance important projects concerning security, major improvements and maintenance.

Yves Lemaire took over the helm in September 2001 until September 2012. The challenges were as stimulating as ever: the final stages of renovation and the future use of the chateau; the pressure for increasing the number of classes at Lycée level; nation-wide administration of the OIB; the creation of the Polish section at Collège and Lycée level (in 2002/3) and the consolidation of the legal status of the school via a new decree.

In September 2012, Mr. Joel Bianco officially took office as the new proviseur (headmaster).

Academics
Academics at the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye focus on preparing students for the French baccalauréat (bac) with the option internationale du baccalauréat (OIB), the international variant of the standard French bac, which requires students to be well versed in the language, culture, and history of another country. Not to be confused with the unrelated International Baccalaureate (IB), the OIB is based on the standard French bac and requires students to complete the same subjects of the standard exam; however, the OIB additionally requires students to take subjects in literature, language, history, and geography modeled on the curriculum of the student's country of interest or background. Due to this dual focus within the OIB curriculum, academics at the Lycée International are divided between the French administration, which teaches the French curriculum, and the thirteen national sections that offer the additional OIB courses.

Admissions
Due to the increased workload of the additional OIB courses and the rigorous academic environment of the Lycée International, reflected in the school's high success rate on the baccalauréat examination, a diploma from the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is typically regarded as a sign of academic prowess, strong work ethic, and self-discipline. This image fosters competition for admission in some of the school's larger national sections.

The French administration does not set admissions standards for entry into primary and middle school grades. However, due to the additional language requirements for the OIB courses, admissions standards are typically dictated by the national sections. Furthermore, the rigorous academic environment at the Lycée International fosters self-selection as students advance to higher grade levels.

French Curriculum
As governed by the French Ministry of National Education, the French curriculum at the Lycée International aims to prepare students to sit for the baccalauréat examination at the end of secondary school. Since nearly all students choose to pursue the OIB, students must follow one of three streams (termed séries) available to OIB students during their final two years. The three séries are scientifique (sciences), économique et sociale (economics and social sciences), and littéraire'' (literature).

Français Spécial
Due to the international background of the Lycée International's student population, some students enter the Lycée International without French language fluency. Entering students who are not fluent in French are placed in a one- to two-year French language immersion program called Français spécial. After successful completion of the program, graduates of Français spécial are expected to be fluent in French and are required to follow the standard French curriculum along with the rest of the student population.

Baccalauréat Results
Baccalaureat results at the Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye have traditionally fluctuated between 99% and 100%.

National sections
The Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye has thirteen national sections, offering supplemental courses in literature, language, history, and geography from the section's corresponding nationality. The national sections are not part of the French education system and are considered private institutions or part of the public education system of the section's target nationality, depending on the sections' agreements with their respective national governments. Consequently, teachers and staff in the national sections are often natives of the sections' nationalities and are paid by student tuition fees or by the sections' respective government.

The thirteen national sections are:
 * American Section
 * British Section
 * Danish Section
 * Dutch Section
 * German Section
 * Italian Section
 * Japanese Section
 * Norwegian Section
 * Polish Section
 * Portuguese Section
 * Russian Section
 * Spanish Section
 * Swedish Section

Each section offers additional classes in literature, language, and history, typically with a curriculum that follows the national standards of their respective nationalities. Since the standard French curriculum requires learning at least one foreign language in addition to the language classes of the national sections, many students who graduate from the Lycée International are fluent in French and two other languages.