Fondazione Istituto Elvetico Opera Don Bosco

For over 100 years, the Swiss Institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco has been present in Lugano with its three courses of study:

Elementary School – equivalent to municipal schools, lasting 5 years.

Middle School – equivalent to cantonal schools, lasting 4 years.

International High School – equivalent and with Italian high school diploma recognized by Swiss universities, lasting 4 years. Our High School offers three courses of study: scientific high school (with applied sciences option), linguistic high school, and humanities high school (with economic-social option).

Our Swiss Institute is open to everyone, regardless of religious beliefs, ethnicity, or social class.

SALESIAN METHOD (VALUES and EDUCATIONAL PROJECT)

OUR VALUES

Don Bosco called the educational adventure of growing up together the "Preventive System" and identified its most significant aspects around four environments: the School, the Home, the Courtyard, and the Church, spaces of life in which to share experiences of growth and personal formation.

The School experience provides all the tools necessary for each student to develop the skills and attitudes essential for life in society, thanks to the harmonious development of their personality, critical awareness, and solid cultural education.

The experience of the Home creates an environment rich in trust and familiarity and is a characteristic element of our pedagogy:unconditional acceptance and being there when you need to share what you are experiencing.

The experience of the Courtyard fosters a spontaneous and informal environment in which friendships and trust are formed and consolidated, with mutual respect and civic coexistence.

The spiritual experience gives space to each of us' desire to be happy in time andeternity. With respect for each individual and starting from the students' experiences, we offer various opportunities to cultivate their inner dimension and discover their life plan.

OUR METHOD

The student has always been at the center of Salesian pedagogy and its methodological choices.

Each student at the Istituto Elvetico, with their own cultural profile, embodies a broad horizon of values and interests, personal inclinations, and educational needs that they have learned from their family.
Our school recognizes and is committed to valuing this horizon in order to promote the full realization of the person.

Sharing the Institute's Educational Project is an essential prerequisite for embarking on an educational journey that involves, with due gradualness and necessary clarity, the responsibility of everyone: students and parents, teachers and educators.

Each student is required to show respect, be willingto listen, and engage in personal research.

At the Istituto Elvetico, we accompany each student and their family on the exciting adventure of education by creating a safe and effective educational environment, ensuring relationships that promote meaningful personal interaction between students and adults, thus going beyond a functional approach to build relationships based on respect and care for the individual.

We encourage group experiences to respond to the diverse interests of students through active learning, where first-hand experience and being protagonists encourages personal exploration and the opportunity to express oneself in new initiatives.

We also support students in their most personal choices, meeting each one in their own uniqueness, "face to face."

Don Bosco's pedagogical style combines being together in the courtyard with meeting the individual, thus promoting the educational journey through personal relationships.