Have a Look at the Amazing list of 15 Most Incredible Schools around the Globe

Hello Aluxers, and welcome back to school! Don’t worry, we’re not going to hunt you for life with this article, but instead show you a selection of amazing schools around the world that will make you want to go back in high school and do homework.

We all know how important education is, but we have to admit that sometimes a good environment and a different approach can help students perform better and enjoy the time spent studying. Besides work, we spend a big period of our life in school and some are lucky enough to spend it in amazing schools, with ultra modern facilities, historic buildings or sustainable environments. 

There are a few schools out there that stand apart from traditional ones and we don’t mean Ivy League schools, but award winning buildings, different techniques and equiste projects. Nowadays, schools is focused on inclusivity, hobbies, study groups, technology, nutrition or happiness. It might sound crazy to focus on such soft skills, but as our world evols everything else must follow.

Now let’s see how an amazing school looks like, what can we learn from them and where we can find them.

• 1. Nanyang University, Singapore
• 2. University of Durham, England
• 3. Phoenix’s Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building
• 4. Ivy Bound International School, Bangkok
• 5. École Maternelle Pajol, Paris
• 6. Meditation instead of detention, Baltimore
• 7. Green School, Bali
• 8 Brooklyn Free School, New York
• 9 Erika Mann Elementary School, Berlin
• 10: Druk White Lotus School, India
• 11: School of the future, Philadelphia
• 12: Clintondale High School, Detroit
• 13. Brightworks School, San Francisco
• 14. Think Global School, New York
• 15. River Plate, Argentina

 

1

Nanyang University, Singapore

Most buildings in Singapore look like they’re out of this world. Their design blends seemingly with nature, along with their high rate and performance. This university is ranked as 57 in Top 500. Some of the buildings of Nanyang University are staggering works of art, with grass rooftops and rounded curves, giving the feeling of an organic architecture.

They blend nature with natural materials, as we can see in their learning hub called The Hive. They invested 45 million dollars into the building. It’s one of the few universities with so much greenery, water, natural daylight and curves. The average tuition fee for a year is around 30.000 dollars for international students.

 2

University of Durham, England

England is full of old castles from their greater days. Some of them fell apart and some were donated to newly founded universities. That is exactly what happened to Durham Castle, it was donated to Durham University. 

The amazing building used to be a church in the 18th century, then a castle and nowadays is one of the oldest buildings in the world that is currently being used to house a university. It’s also a UNESCO Heritage Site, so you can imagine just how beautiful and majestic the castle looks like transformed into a school.

Resource: 10 Charming New England Towns You Can’t Miss

3

Phoenix’s Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building

In America, some universities take inspiration from their landmarks as well. The Phoenix’s Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building makes you think you’re in the Grand Canyon, with red, brown and orange facade and odd shapes.

The winding pathways between buildings emulate the narrow passageways found in the rocky Arizona environment, while inside some of the best technology and equipment is provided for research. They used 90% recycled copper for the facade and the project was nominated for many awards.

4

Ivy Bound International School, Bangkok

This time we turn our eye to Bangkok and their progressive school for kids between 1,5 and 7 years old. It’s more of a kindergarten, but with a different approach. Since the city is so culturally diverse, they try to teach the kids here to be more mindful and respectful of others and themselves.

This approach towards kids at such a young age will help children to be more open minded, curious and creative. The school is founded by Ivy League graduates and has modern facilities as well as an amazing architecture. This place is pretty much what every modern parent would want for his kid.

 5

École Maternelle Pajol, Paris 

How would you feel if everyday at school you’d see rainbows, colors and fun things? Pretty happy probably, which is how everyone should feel during school. The École Maternelle Pajol from Paris is one of the most colorful schools in the world.

The newly redesigned building is colorful inside and out, full of textures from wood, grass and rubber and designed to make everyone feel happy and have a good time. The main focus was to stimulate kids’ emotions and creativity and we believe they’ve achieved it. 

6

Meditation instead of detention, Baltimore

Sometimes the smallest changes can have the biggest results. A school from Baltimore USA decided to replace detention with meditation. They partnered with the Holistic Life Foundation to help kids with anxiety and other problems instead of punishing them.

They’ve had great results with this method and the suspension rates in the school lowered significantly. Practicing meditation helped them perform better in school and most important in life. This shows just how important mental health is at a young age. 

 7

Green School, Bali

The sustainable and eco friendly trend is entering the educational system as well. In Bali, a couple of expats opened a green school made out of the most sustainable materials, powered by the sun, located in nature and inclusive.

They teach students how to live sustainably among other traditional topics like math or languages, cooking, gardening, and even traditional Balinese mud wrestling. Teachers and students come from all over the world, but they keep a 20% balinese rule. The biggest downside is their tuition fee, between 7.000 -16.000 dollars per year. Other than that. it’s the perfect place to go to school.

Resource: 15 Places to Enjoy Luxurious Sunshine in Bali

8

Brooklyn Free School, New York

After the hippie era of the 60s and 70s a new trend of education has emerged in America, the one of inclusivity and total freedom. This is how The Brooklyn Free School was born. A school where kids have no curriculum and where they decide everything that happens in school.

There are no grades, no tests, classes are non-compulsory and they get no homework because their philosophy is that students should decide what they want to study, how they want to study and when. Students nominate themselves for graduation and those who take standardized tests often continue to college, proving that this type of school works. As you can imagine, there is some controversy around the school and the entire philosophy. 

9

Erika Mann Elementary School, Berlin

Most schools are designed by adults and make you obey certain rules that kinda prepare you for adult life instead of the next phaze in your pre-adult life. Erika Mann Elementary school from Berlin is different, it’s designed by kids for kids. 

Together with a team of architecture students, this school has listened to its students and their needs. This way kids like their school, and when you enjoy going to school you will perform better. Needless to say that it’s full of hammocks, toys, pillows and colorful items, that make it look more like a playground rather than an institution, which is amazing.

10

Druk White Lotus School, India

The most important thing about this school is its founder. It was commissioned by the Dalai Lama himself and is one of the highest schools in the world, located at 3.500 meters high in the mountains. The school is accessible 6 months per year and is also running on green energy.

It was built with local materials and skilled engineers and is now teaching the kids in that remote area a basic curriculum as well as leadership and problem solving classes. The school has won several important awards and has honorary patrons supporting it such as Joanna Lumley and Richard Gere.

11

School of the future, Philadelphia

The new age of technology is preparing children to live a life where everything is digitalized. The School of the Future from Philadelphia is giving its students only laptops and tablets, replacing all the classic books and notes with technology. 

The building was designed by Microsoft, aiming it to be a template that can be replicated throughout the country and worldwide on a traditional budget. Although this school has been awarded several times, ironically most tech moguls from Silicon Valley enroll their kids in schools with zero technology. 

 12

Clintondale High School, Detroit

This new type of school has been seeing a lot of improvement over the years and it might be adopted by multiple schools all over the world. It’s a new type of concept where homework is done during the day and the classes are held online at home during the night.

This unique strategy didn’t work out that well in the beginning but it’s seeing changes. With this approach students learn via online courses and then do the homework with the teachers in the classroom the next day. The principle of the school came out with this idea and they’re now being studied by Harvard. 

 13

Brightworks School, San Francisco

Parents spend a lifetime teaching their kids what to do, how to act and who to trust. School should be a safe place where teachers share the same views as parents. Well not in one of these amazing schools. Brightworks school focuses entirely on the most dangerous things parents tell their kids not to do and makes an entire curriculum out of it.

They get dirty, they play with fire, they break things and then put them back again, all just to challenge them, test them and ignite their creativity rather than their fear. Everything is a challenge in this school, and this way kids learn how to manage whatever life throws at them. 

Resource: Check Out The Cisco Meraki Headquarters in San Francisco!

 14

Think Global School, New York

Have you ever wanted to travel the world and see the things they teach you in school rather than looking them up on Google? It’s now possible. The Think Global School requires its high school students to move to a new country every three months.

They travel to different countries all over the world, while doing their normal curricula. This way they are always stimulated, constantly learning something new and get to master life without parents. They call it an educational journey, where classrooms have no borders and learning knows no bounds. Beautiful and inspiring. 

15

River Plate, Argentina

In the country of Maradona and Messi football is king. Children play football from an early age and now some schools have prioritized this sport to the point of having one right on the football stadium to facilitate the access to the court.

Yes, River Plate school from Buenos Aires is located inside a football stadium. Sometimes, classes overlap with football practice or games and therefore children can watch the game from their class. Of course, this type of school is orientated towards kids that are into sports and maybe River Plate Club fans. 

These were some amazing schools where kids these days get to study. School and education are constantly changing and more people prove that you don’t need a unique and strict method to teach and inspire young minds.

Schools nowadays focus on many other aspects and hopefully the adults they bring out will be able to change the world. Now that we’ve seen what kids are studying in school today let us know what you think they should study and why. Write it down in the comments below.