Our history
Since 1979, bilingualism as a conviction
New School grew out of a simple idea, and a pioneering one at the time: a child can learn a second language very early, provided that it is genuinely used at school. Almost half a century later, that conviction is still where the project starts.
New School was one of the first schools in Lyon to make French-English bilingualism a genuine learning project from preschool. Today, this history is entering a new chapter: a more structured framework, an asserted academic ambition and its membership of an educational group that also runs EPIN, whose middle school was ranked #1 in France by Le Parisien in 2026.
Over the years, the school has welcomed thousands of children. It has evolved with the curriculum, the spaces and the world, but it has kept its core values: clarity, consistency, rigour and warmth.
This proximity reinforces New School's ambition: preparing children for the next stage of their journey, without losing what makes it singular: a human-scale bilingual primary school, focused on the foundational years of preschool and elementary.
In three chapters
Three chapters in the New School story
1979
The founding intuition
Exposing children to English from preschool, in a serious school setting, at a time when early bilingualism was still rare in France.
2022-2026
The structuring
New premises, a clarified project, a stronger educational framework, Cambridge preparation, middle-school partnerships and clearer admissions.
2030
The ambition
Establishing New School as a leading bilingual school in Lyon: demanding, international in its outlook, French in its fundamentals and clear in its relationship with families.
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