THe Volunteer Program

What is an Ecole Volunteer?

The Volunteer Program is an exceptional opportunity for 6-8 recent high school graduates to study and work at a unique school located in the Swiss Alps. Essentially, Volunteers are members of the Ecole community who support teaching and administrative staff.

What do Volunteers do at the Ecole?

Volunteers provide childcare for faculty families with young children; volunteers should expect to spend the vast majority of their time providing primary care to young children during the school day, up to 30 hours per week. Exceptionally, volunteers might also assist the maintenance and facilities staff with on-campus projects, support office staff with clerical tasks, and often clean the main school buildings, often supervising other students, along with other duties.

What does a Volunteer’s day look like?

The schedule for volunteers varies depending on the family they support and their specific on-campus role.

Generally, volunteers wake up around 6:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday and have breakfast between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.  They do putz, a campus-wide cleaning, right after breakfast and then begin volunteer activities until lunch around noon.  Afternoons are similar; volunteers may take afternoon classes — any that fit into their schedule from the wide range of offerings each term — and assist staff members with various tasks until dinner, working 30 hours per week in total.

Here’s how a volunteer from the 2020-2021 school year answered this question:

“It's difficult to describe only one day of the week because they're all different and all beautiful in their form. What I mean is that some days I stay with kids most of the time and I absolutely love it but can be very tiring. Other days I'm mostly free so I can grab my skis and go for a few rides. 

But basically, this is what happens: I wake up at the same time as the students (6.40), breakfast is served at 7 in the dining room.

After breakfast, during the first hour, I start working. The second hour, I have German class every day.  In the third hour, I have to pick up the food with this little cute container for my family head. This is not what happens every day but I'd say my morning is pretty much like this. 

The afternoon is definitely the best part of the day because I have more free time so once a week I join a course that teaches woodworking. Another day I take pictures on a film camera and develop them in the darkroom. Another course that I love is mountain biking; we usually leave before lunch so we reach the top of the mountain, eat our lunch in front of a beautiful view and then we ride down at full speed. But now that it is winter term, if I have the whole afternoon free (Tuesday and Saturday), I go skiing. 

In the evenings, we definitely have more freedom than the students so we can go to bed later. We can watch films, listen to music, or hang out in the common room.”

Do volunteers take classes?

Volunteers can take classes in their leisure time. Volunteers can participate in the school’s outdoor program, which includes skiing/snowboarding, backpacking, mountain biking, and rock climbing, and they can take afternoon classes in athletics or the arts.  These afternoon classes change every term - in Winter 2021, for example, we offered ukulele jam, woodworking, blacksmithing, Kindness Ninjas, Water color, spoken word poetry, hip hop, and Irish dance, chess club, weight lifting, and volleyball, just to name a few!

Can Volunteers leave campus?

Yes, when they do not have responsibilities on campus. These responsibilities can be anything from work with their assigned family, other cleaning or chores on campus, or any class obligations. Volunteers are generally free one afternoon a week and sometimes on weekends, but this can vary based on the needs of the family. Volunteers are expected to attend all school functions, which currently includes Big Putz, Schulgemeinde, and classes on Saturday mornings as well as Sunday evening programming.

Are Volunteers allowed to use technology?

Yes. Technology use is restricted at the Ecole. While Volunteers are allowed to use technology freely, they should not use devices in front of students, for example, or listen to music while walking around campus.

Where do Volunteers live?

Volunteers live in one of our Ecole houses. Volunteers generally live in a double room, shared with one other volunteer, complete with a bed, nightstand, lamp, and closet space. Depending on the house, volunteers may also have access to a common space, which is shared amongst all volunteers. Bed linens, towels, a pillow, and duvet are provided by the school, but Volunteers may choose to bring their own pieces of home to decorate their room.

Do volunteers get paid?

As a volunteer, you get free board and lodging from the school, along with pocket money.

Can Volunteers drink and/or smoke?

Smoking is not permitted for anyone in any form at the Ecole. Drinking is allowed in private spaces and, of course, in moderation, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your duties and is done discreetly, away from students.

The volunteers play a very important part in our school; most volunteers are about the same age as the older students. If the volunteers smoke, our efforts to keep students from smoking are undermined, as the students often see the volunteers as role models. As we have seen over the years, the volunteer group has an enormous influence on the general atmosphere of the school, and if the volunteers group fully supports the school rules, this often has more effect than all the efforts of the teaching staff who are more distanced in years from the students.

How old are volunteers?

Most volunteers are taking a gap year between high school and higher education. We welcome young people between 18 and 23 years of age into our volunteer program.

When does the year start and end?

Our school year generally begins in late August and runs through late June.

Do Young LEaders need to speak English and/or German?

Volunteers should feel comfortable living and learning in either English, German or Spanish. Most staff on campus speak English, but many are more comfortable in German. Many volunteers use their year at the Ecole to a language class in either German or English.

Do volunteers have to be Swiss?

No! Volunteers are a diverse group of individuals who originate from many different countries.