Our History

Surval Montreux has been celebrating excellence in Girls education for over 55 years. It was founded as an international boarding school for girls in 1961, in Leysin by Ms Georgette-F. Andrea. The school started in a small chalet situated above the valley, which inspired the name ‘Sur-Val’, ie ‘above the valley’.

In 1964, the school moved to Clarens and in 1967 Ms Andrea handed over the school to her nephew, Mr Fritz Sidler, who ran Surval until his death in 2010. The school grew significantly and with that came the opportunity to buy the Hotel Mont-Fleuri, a magnificent location on a hill above Territet with a breath-taking view of Lac Leman and the Alps. The School moved into its new home in 1987  and continues to thrive in this beautiful setting. 

Surval enjoyed a long-standing reputation as a successful Swiss Finishing School and has remained true to its roots, continuing to offer courses in Etiquette, International Savoir Vivre and Languages. Surval has also undergone a remarkable evolution into a fully-fledged High School, which started in 2000 with the introduction of the American High School Programme.  It quickly became a centre of excellence for young girls coming to Montreux eager to  learn History, Math, Science and English.

Surval was bought in 2012 by Bellevue Education and under the leadership of the new Headmistress, Mrs Penelope Penney, the school transformed into an internationally recognised boarding school for girls aged 12-19 with a new and robust curriculum which introduced, alongside the AHSP,  the International IGCSE and A Level programmes. 

Our Principal, Mrs Patricia Woodhouse, took on the mantle from Mrs Penney in September 2016, further developing Surval’s innovative and diverse curriculum, reinvigorating its boarding provision and growing the school both in size and reputation.