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70 stories
Six Weeks of Homesick Calls, Then She Hung Up
A father flew home to Delhi from a Swiss mountain, leaving his fourteen-year-old at Aiglon. The phone started ringing before his dinner arrived.
A Month at the Préfecture, Fifteen Minutes With the Préfet
A new pupil at the École alsacienne needed a visa to join her class in Florence, and the French state kept asking for one more document.
Three Days on an Old Barge, and the Mattress Won
The International School of Amsterdam sends Grade 10 sailing on a flat-bottomed barge and calls it the Challenge Trip. One tenth-grader found the challenge after dark.
Boarding Three Streets From Home, Then Inspecting Tomorrow
In post-war Cetinje, a nursing student lived three streets from the medical school and boarded anyway. The rules were not interested in the view.
Half a Riksi to Learn Writing, Gentlemen’s Letters Not Included
In Pietari Päivärinta’s 1877 memoir, a lodger’s son in rural Finland is promised a writing lesson with a pass mark, and asks the one question his teacher cannot answer.
An 1877 Schoolboy Complains, and Gets the Good Old Days
In 1877 a pupil at the Lycée Henri-IV wrote a comic poem in which a sleepless boarder files a complaint against his century. A dream takes him up on it.
Father Played Bellman, and Nobody Told the Children
In her memoir of Mårbacka, Selma Lagerlöf remembers the evenings her father sat at the piano and called the children to sing. Nobody ever told them how it sounded.
Every Teacher Had to Sign Before Saturday in Zug
At Institut Montana on the Zugerberg, a boarder who wanted to go down the mountain on a Saturday needed a slip signed by his teachers. One of its former pupils remembers what that took.
Carl Nielsen Trod on a Foot and Became a General
In his 1927 memoir of a Funen childhood, the composer Carl Nielsen recalls the road war between two villages, a scarf that made him look like Napoleon, and a battle plan that lasted seconds.
Nine Years Teaching, Then a Desk at the Back
A teacher in Bucharest left her job to sit beside her autistic son in eighth grade. The class she had once taught had other plans for her.
He Passed the Entrance Exam. Then Came the Wig.
In autumn 1843 a country boy passed the entrance examination at Schulpforta and shook hands with every teacher. That evening he was told there was one more test, in singing.
Thirty-Nine First-Graders Turned Up at Their Teacher’s Wedding
In the 1980s a young substitute was sent to cover a first-grade class for a fortnight. The children, and then their parents, decided he was staying.
Eighteen Pupils, No Abacus, and a Pocketful of Chestnuts
In the 1960s a twenty-year-old teacher fresh from college in Skopje took charge of a one-room school in a mountain village. Her method book assumed an abacus.
Promised New York, He Got Greek With a Texas Accent
In 1984 an eleven-year-old in Halandri was told the move from New York was temporary. Then he met his fifth-grade teacher.
Four O’Clock Came, and Halloween Refused to End
Two former pupils of the American School of Barcelona remember the Halloween of 2008, when the teachers did the show and the day did not stop at the gate.
Two Metres of Bronze, One Pink Tutu
Outside the Athénée de Luxembourg stands a bronze torch-bearer the pupils call Datzemisch. In 2009, the night before the exams, a final-year class decided he needed dressing.
Forty Minutes of Coffee, Three Days at Home
At Athens College in the mid-1980s, two girls skipped a double period of chemistry for a café in Kifissia. The outward journey went perfectly.
Cake Paid for London Slowly. Then the Plates Arrived.
An eleventh-year class in Aveiro in the mid-1990s was raising money for London one Friday cake at a time, until someone mentioned a crockery factory.
Ministers’ Sons Came by Car. He Came With Chapter Four.
At the Stefan Batory school in pre-war Warsaw, some boys were driven in by soldiers. One boy came by tram with a detective serial, and the whole class needed the next instalment.
Museum Visitors Came for Old Books, Found Older Ones Inside
Two educators from the Bergen City Museum came to Bergen Cathedral School’s library to look at books from the 1500s. The books turned out to be wearing medieval underwear.
Three Years Arguing With His Father About Being a Composer
In 1982 a fourteen-year-old at the John F. Kennedy School in West Berlin started writing a musical about a frog prince from outer space. His father kept calling him a composer, and he kept saying no.
Back at Boarding School, the Red Cups Got Him First
A journalist went back to Birklehof, his old boarding school in the Black Forest, prepared for new buildings and new faces. He had not prepared for the cups.
Everyone at Blackrock Was Homesick Except the Boy With Turnips
In 1898 a scholarship boy from Bruree in County Limerick arrived at Blackrock College and could not work out why the other boys were crying.
No Rules for Years, Then a Duckling Boarded the Coach
The British School of Brussels opened in 1970 with a principle instead of a rulebook. It held for several years, until a Year 6 boy came back from a market carrying a box.
Two Sides of a Slice, and the Teacher Said Nothing
At a one-room school above Barga in the 1960s, the teacher handed out chocolate spread on bread. One six-year-old had arrived with the wrong kind of bread.
The Love Letters Are Misspelt. Do Not Correct Them.
Eighth-year pupils in Vila Nova de Cerveira went looking into the Lenços dos Namorados, the embroidered sweetheart handkerchiefs of the Minho. The spelling is the tradition.
The Globe Was Bigger Than Every Door in the School
Around 1975 an American library in Copenhagen gave Copenhagen International School a floor globe the size of a small car. The history room was on the third floor.
282 Mothers, One Breakfast, and a Secret That Lasted Seconds
Cygnaeus school in Turku holds a breakfast for mothers before Mother’s Day. In 2023 the children had been told the cards they made in class were a surprise.
The Souvenir Was Salt, and It Must Not Be Cooked
A primary class from Puglia went to the saltworks at Margherita di Savoia and came home with a packet of coarse salt each. One boy still had some years later.
The Script Said Kiss Him. She Dropped Him Instead.
In 1982 the teachers at Ecolint in Geneva put on a Stoppard play themselves. The drama teacher was cast opposite an English teacher, and the blocking required faith.
Wrong Bus, No Phone, and a Map With Two Circles
In September 1979 two sisters aged nine and seven took two buses across Florence to school on their own. The second bus was the right number going the wrong way.
Snow Class in the Vercors, Where Beehives Were Letterboxes
In January 1970 a class from Saint-Étienne went up to Gresse-en-Vercors for three weeks of snow classes. A nine-year-old spotted something the adults had walked past.
Germany Came to Helsinki for Answers. The Pupils Had Them.
In 2002, after Finland topped the first PISA tables, German visitors came to the Deutsche Schule Helsinki to find out how. The clearest explanations came from the pupils.
Caught Writing Poetry in Icelandic Class, Sentenced to More Poetry
The novelist Hannah Kent finished school in Australia and was sent back to school in northern Iceland, without the language. Her Icelandic exercises did not get done.
Six Years Old, and He Rejected the Letter A
In a village school in Galicia, a class of beginners was copying the five vowels. One boy got on fine with the o, then reached the a and lodged an objection.
The Whistle Was a Warning. The Berlin Wall Fell Anyway.
In October 2010, St Kilian’s Deutsche Schule in Dublin built a polystyrene Berlin Wall across the gym to mark twenty years of German unity. The plan had a whistle in it.
They Mistook the School Inspector for a Book Salesman
At the village school in Krka, Slovenia, in the early 1970s, a young teacher and the cook were having coffee on sports day when a man with a leather bag knocked at the kitchen door.
Two Remark Books, Two Forgeries, and One Invented Crime
A Kungsholmen schoolboy in 1930s Stockholm dropped a ruler and got a written remark that needed his father’s signature. His solution needed far more work than behaving.
A Graduation Speech Made Entirely of Things That Went Wrong
At the International School of Luxembourg’s graduation in June 2025, one graduate thanked the school by listing every class trip disaster, in order, ending with a twenty-five-kilometre hike.
No Rivals for Footloose, He Thought. Then the List Arrived.
A new student at UWC Maastricht reckoned that at a school full of future diplomats, nobody would want the lead in the musical. Then the audition list arrived.
The US Embassy Came to Learn Composting From Schoolchildren
The American School of Madrid had a greenhouse built for a teacher who then left. A gardener from Houston turned it into a club, and eventually the diplomats came to take notes.
The Head Booked Mock Exams, So the Flour Came Early
In February 2013 a Bordeaux lycée tried to defeat the Père Cent, a tradition of flour and eggs, with a timetable. The final-year pupils had a two-hour meeting and a five-euro budget.
Immortality on a School Brick, Until the Kindergarten Lunch
Seniors at the American School of Milan get to paint a brick before they leave. In May 2021 one of them brought a design with nine shades of green and a deadline of half past eleven.
She Mastered the School’s Filing System, Then It Changed
Joke van Zijl volunteered in the office of a Dutch primary school. She learned the systems, ran the birthday stickers and kept her suppliers secret.
Two Hundred Neuroscientists, Six to a Boarding-School Dormitory
In 1971 an international neuroscience symposium lost its venue weeks before it opened. A young researcher remembered that his old boarding school, a castle in Bavaria, would be empty in August.
Seven Years of Roommate Treaties and One Unwritable Clause
At Open Gate, a boarding school outside Prague, pupils share rooms for years and learn to negotiate everything: lamps, windows, alarms. One girl met a party that would not sign.
Seventh-Graders Interviewed a Minister, Then Another Asked for a Selfie
In May 2022 pupils from Grünerløkka school in Oslo went to the Storting to interview the education minister. They had prepared questions. They had not prepared for the foreign minister.
A Village School Reopened for One Seven-Year-Old
In February 2024 the primary school in Petrovići, near Olovo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reopened after a year closed. It had one pupil, and a teacher with thirty years in the classroom.
No Room for Ninth Grade, So They Used the Bathroom
In the late 1980s the International School of Prague was a villa in Prague 6 that stopped at grade eight. Then six pupils needed a ninth grade, and every room was taken.
The Class of 1961’s Rocket Needed an Aircraft Designer
In 1961, the spring Gagarin flew, a graduating class in Příbram made its tablo of portraits in the shape of a rocket. Sixty years later it needed an aircraft designer.
The Teacher Said Whipped Cream Only. The Class Went Shopping.
A new Estonian form teacher took her fifth-formers on their first overnight trip and, to get ahead of the mischief, told them exactly what was allowed in the pillowcases.
A Written Reprimand Is Not Luggage, Said the Colleague
In Riga in 1983, a twenty-three-year-old singing teacher in her first term received a written reprimand. She carried it everywhere until an older colleague noticed the waltz.
He Picked the Play, Then Hid Behind the Curtain
In autumn 1964 a ninth grader at St. Stephen’s School in Rome persuaded the drama club to stage a Shaw play. Then he declined to act in it.
The Reunion Roll Call Stopped at Seventy. Then: Eighty.
At Rygaards School’s 2025 reunion in Hellerup, the head asked old pupils to raise a hand for their jubilee year. The room thought it had found its oldest graduate.
She Drew Pink, the Jackpot. It Came With Thirty-Five Girls.
At Schule Schloss Salem’s evening sports festival, older College pupils captain the colour teams. In 2025 one captain was thrilled with her colour, then handed the list.
Enrolment Day, and the Six-Year-Old Filed a Full Report
In a village in Lower Austria in the early 1970s, a father took his daughter to enrol for her first year of school. At home, she reported on the teacher. And on her father.
The Classroom Shook Every Morning, and the Attic Was Empty
At the secondary school in Sempach, promotion meant a classroom under the roof. That autumn the floor began to shake every morning during quiet work, and the attic was always empty.
The Polonaise Was Only the Heats. The Walk Home Counted.
At a Sigtuna boarding school in the 1960s, games evenings in the gym ended with a polonaise. Being asked was one prize. The walk back to the boarding house was the other.
Mother Became a Hero of Socialist Labour in a Notebook
In 1985 a Sofia class had no famous visitor for its year-end pioneer report. So an eleven-year-old was told to write one in. A year later she found a real one at home.
The New Maths Master Drew a Seating Plan. Everyone Moved.
In 1950s Dublin, a new maths master at St Andrew’s College mapped every boy to his desk in the first lesson. By the second lesson the map was useless.
Paula Rego Painted the School Hall in Flames at Eleven
The future painter Paula Rego started at St Julian’s School in Carcavelos in 1945. Her art teacher handed her the whole school hall. Her mother was less generous with the living room.
A Pupil Who Saw His Fable and Credited His Mum
Back in the classroom after lockdown in 2020, a third-grade class in Sveta Nedelja, Croatia, saw the fables they had written at home. One boy did not recognise his.
Match the Teacher to the Quote. One Said “Adidas!”
In spring 2022 the pupil magazine at Helsinki’s SYK school printed six things teachers say and six teachers’ names. Readers had to match them up.
In Malta’s Stony Playground, the Boulder Meant an Upstairs
At the Dockyard children’s school at Tal-Handak in the late 1940s, the infants built houses out of stones in a playground that was mostly stones. One boulder offered an upstairs.
Two Girls Carried Their Teacher Down the Corridor, Singing
In Telšiai in Soviet Lithuania, a girl spent years envying her brother’s class teacher. Then a school move gave her the same teacher, and her birthday gave her an idea.
Christoph Waltz’s Old Art Teacher Kept the Drawing
In January 2015, as a Bond film shot in the Tyrolean Alps, a Tyrolean newspaper found the retired art teacher who had taught Christoph Waltz at the Theresianum in Vienna. He still had a drawing.
The Pupils Found Their Teacher’s Yearbook. Someone Had Drawn Glasses.
At the Utrechts Stedelijk Gymnasium, an economics teacher is a former pupil, and the school library keeps the evidence.
Six Years Old, First Day, and Already Late for University
A Valencia teacher had a first-day speech for his new six-year-olds. In one September he got as far as his name before a girl in the second row stood up.
Barbara Bush, Two Bands, and a Four-Year-Old Holding Her Hand
In July 1989 the First Lady opened the American School of The Hague’s new building in Wassenaar. The welcome involved a carnival band, a brass band and a very small guest.
Four Pupils Chipped In to Upgrade Their Teacher’s Sandals
At Zurich International School, a geography teacher wore a Hawaiian shirt, a straw hat, and socks with sandals. Four pupils decided one part of the outfit needed help.