School Foundation
When occupied Paris severely restricted education access in 1941, French literature student Anna-Marie Tommerer began teaching neighborhood children—a modest start that would survive the bombing of its first building and evacuation to abandoned structures in Maisons-Laffitte. What began with a handful of pupils grew steadily while preserving the resilient philosophy born during wartime, and by the 1950s was already sending graduates abroad to Australia, England, Ireland, Spain, and the United States.
Christopher Hunter’s Leadership
Christopher Hunter’s arrival in 1987 marked the beginning of a 28-year tenure that transformed the local French boarding school into a cosmopolitan hub drawing students from 75 countries. As Maisons-Laffitte itself attracted international families through bilingual programs, academic performance soared—graduation rates climbed from 48% to 100% over two decades, leading Le Figaro to rank Ermitage International School second among French lycées in 2017.
Academic Diversity and Global Network
The French international baccalaureate launched in 2003, followed six years later when Ermitage became among France’s first schools offering the IB Diploma with near-perfect results. After the IB Middle Years Program completed the international curriculum cycle in 2016, the school joined Round Square as France’s pioneering member and established ICU2, a humanitarian initiative providing annual eye care to 20,000 Indians.
Ermitage International School Today
Benjamin Hunter—grandson of the founder and son of his predecessor—assumed directorship in 2019, guiding the school through pandemic challenges and its integration into Laffitte Education while safeguarding the family ethos established eight decades earlier. Maintaining exceptional IBO ratings, it continues cultivating critically-minded global citizens.
