Our mission
Preparing
Preparing
Preparing
young
young
young
Minds
Minds
Minds
for
for
for
an
an
an
accelerating
accelerating
accelerating
Future.
Future.
Future.
School at a Glance
School at a Glance
Location
Location
Zurich, Switzerland
Full immersion
Full immersion
English and German
Ratio
Ratio
1 Teacher per 7 Children
Ages
Ages
Grades 1-9
Pathways
Pathways
IB, GCSE or Swiss Matura
Why Lumos School exists
Why Lumos School exists
Most schools still run on a design from 100 years ago.
And yet, nearly all of them claim to be future-ready.
The slogans say 21st century skills. Individualized Learning. Modern pedagogy.
But scratch the surface, and it’s usually the same setup your grandparents might recognize:
One teacher, one group, one pace. Take Notes. Memorize. Pass the test.
It was built for a world that was slow and predictable. A world where your job didn’t change, and following instructions was enough.
That world is gone.
Now things shift fast — tools, jobs, entire fields. Your child will likely work in roles that don’t exist yet. They’ll need to learn new skills quickly, work across cultures, and make decisions with incomplete information.
The most valuable things won’t be facts.
They’ll be traits: curiosity, clarity, grit, empathy, initiative.
You don’t build those with worksheets and lectures.
But most schools still try.
So we asked a different question:
If you were building school for the world your kids are growing up in — not the one we did — what would it look like?
It wouldn’t be standardized.
It wouldn’t be rigid.
It wouldn’t be designed for control.
It would be small, flexible, and deeply personal.
It would give kids time to go deep.
It would treat failure as part of the method, not a mistake.
It would replace busywork with real work, and lectures with coaching.
It would connect subjects instead of splitting them.
It would focus less on checking boxes, and more on building character.
It would feel less like a system to survive — and more like a launchpad.
That’s why we built Lumos School.
It is for our three children and we hope it’s for yours too.
Our leadership team
Behind every great education is an amazing teacher. Behind every great school, is a talented and passionate team.
Victoria Ransom is the head of school at Lumos. She is an entrepreneur who started Prisma, one of the largest and most respected project based learning schools in the United States. She has founded and led four companies, including Wildfire, which was acquired by Google. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and received an award for entrepreneurship from Barack Obama. She serves on the board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and holds a degree from Harvard.
Danielle Hollywood has taught in a wide range of settings, including Montessori, international and public schools in Switzerland and abroad. She has deep experience working with bilingual mixed-age groups and designing learning paths individualized for each child. She holds a Bachelor's in Primary Education from Ireland and a Master's in Education from Finland, a country widely recognized as a global leader in holistic education. What drives her is simple: children learn best when they're curious, trusted, and given the space to take ownership of their learning.
Johanna Meyer leads German, humanities, and literacy for Grades 4 to 7 at Lumos. She has taught students across Grades 5 to 12 in both the United States and Germany, bringing a rare combination of academic rigor and warmth.
Johanna stands out for her clarity of thinking, creativity, and ability to build strong relationships with students. Multiple former supervisors independently described her as one of the best teachers they have worked with, highlighting her organization, work ethic, and natural talent in the classroom.
She is fluent in German, English, and Spanish.
Julia Eikelkamp
Lead Teacher (Grades 1-3)
Julia Eikelkamp leads our Grades 1 to 3 program at Lumos. She brings over 15 years of teaching experience across public and bilingual schools and was involved in the early founding phase of a bilingual school in Munich.
Julia is known for her warmth, empathy, and deep commitment to personalized learning. Her references consistently describe her as someone who lights up the room and creates an environment where every child feels seen and supported.
She is a native German speaker, fluent in English, and has lived in the United States.
James Perry
Teaching & Operations Lead
James Perry is Teaching & Operations Lead at Lumos School, where he leads our Projects while also supporting school operations and student life. He brings more than 25 years of experience as an educator and school leader in the United States, United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Most recently, James helped build and launch a bilingual school in Zurich, where he serves as head of school while continuing to teach. He believes exceptional schools combine ambitious learning with strong relationships, individual attention, and meaningful experiences beyond the classroom. James holds an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Columbia University.
Celeste Caso oversees curriculum and programming at Lumos. Beyond her 15 years of classroom experience, Celeste founded a respected Pre-K–12 tutoring business and has led educational programs across the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia. A creative strategist, she possesses a unique gift for making learning both deep and exciting. She holds an M.A. in Elementary Education from Point Loma Nazarene University and a B.A. from Temple University, and is certified in outdoor education.
Born and raised in Switzerland but educated at Stanford University, Alain Chuard possesses unique insight into both the Swiss and American education systems. A serial entrepreneur and Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, he founded Prisma (one of the largest project-based learning schools in the US) and Wildfire (acquired by Google), alongside ventures in travel, adult learning, and enterprise software. He is also the founder of Swisspreneur, a leading non-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in Switzerland.
Gigi
School Dog
Gigi is Lumos School’s resident Labragoldendoodle and an enthusiastic member of the community. She spends her days greeting students, keeping an eye out for birds and cats, and making herself available whenever someone could use a quiet companion, a little encouragement, or simply a furry friend nearby.
Our leadership team
Behind every great education is an amazing teacher. Behind every great school, is a talented and passionate team.
Victoria Ransom is the head of school at Lumos. She is an entrepreneur who started Prisma, one of the largest and most respected project based learning schools in the United States. She has founded and led four companies, including Wildfire, which was acquired by Google. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and received an award for entrepreneurship from Barack Obama. She serves on the board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and holds a degree from Harvard.
Danielle Hollywood has taught in a wide range of settings, including Montessori, international and public schools in Switzerland and abroad. She has deep experience working with bilingual mixed-age groups and designing learning paths individualized for each child. She holds a Bachelor's in Primary Education from Ireland and a Master's in Education from Finland, a country widely recognized as a global leader in holistic education. What drives her is simple: children learn best when they're curious, trusted, and given the space to take ownership of their learning.
Johanna Meyer leads German, humanities, and literacy for Grades 4 to 7 at Lumos. She has taught students across Grades 5 to 12 in both the United States and Germany, bringing a rare combination of academic rigor and warmth.
Johanna stands out for her clarity of thinking, creativity, and ability to build strong relationships with students. Multiple former supervisors independently described her as one of the best teachers they have worked with, highlighting her organization, work ethic, and natural talent in the classroom.
She is fluent in German, English, and Spanish.
Julia Eikelkamp
Lead Teacher (Grades 1-3)
Julia Eikelkamp leads our Grades 1 to 3 program at Lumos. She brings over 15 years of teaching experience across public and bilingual schools and was involved in the early founding phase of a bilingual school in Munich.
Julia is known for her warmth, empathy, and deep commitment to personalized learning. Her references consistently describe her as someone who lights up the room and creates an environment where every child feels seen and supported.
She is a native German speaker, fluent in English, and has lived in the United States.
James Perry
Teaching & Operations Lead
James Perry is Teaching & Operations Lead at Lumos School, where he leads our Projects while also supporting school operations and student life. He brings more than 25 years of experience as an educator and school leader in the United States, United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Most recently, James helped build and launch a bilingual school in Zurich, where he serves as head of school while continuing to teach. He believes exceptional schools combine ambitious learning with strong relationships, individual attention, and meaningful experiences beyond the classroom. James holds an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Columbia University.
Celeste Caso oversees curriculum and programming at Lumos. Beyond her 15 years of classroom experience, Celeste founded a respected Pre-K–12 tutoring business and has led educational programs across the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia. A creative strategist, she possesses a unique gift for making learning both deep and exciting. She holds an M.A. in Elementary Education from Point Loma Nazarene University and a B.A. from Temple University, and is certified in outdoor education.
Born and raised in Switzerland but educated at Stanford University, Alain Chuard possesses unique insight into both the Swiss and American education systems. A serial entrepreneur and Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, he founded Prisma (one of the largest project-based learning schools in the US) and Wildfire (acquired by Google), alongside ventures in travel, adult learning, and enterprise software. He is also the founder of Swisspreneur, a leading non-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in Switzerland.
Gigi
School Dog
Gigi is Lumos School’s resident Labragoldendoodle and an enthusiastic member of the community. She spends her days greeting students, keeping an eye out for birds and cats, and making herself available whenever someone could use a quiet companion, a little encouragement, or simply a furry friend nearby.
A letter to parents
from the school founders
Dear Parent,
Welcome to Lumos School. We’re Victoria and Alain, founders of the school and parents to three Lumos students.
Alain is Swiss. Victoria is from New Zealand. We’ve spent most of the past 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, building companies and raising our family. In 2024, we moved near Zurich and we love it here.
Our journey in education began six years ago when we founded Prisma, now the largest project based learning school in the USA. The results changed everything for us: 98% of students say they are happier, and they are growing academically at 2x the national rate. We’ve seen firsthand what is possible when education is rethought from the ground up.
But when we arrived in Zurich, we couldn’t find a school built for an accelerating future. So we built it.
Every decision we make affects our own kids, too. You could call that “skin in the game.” We call it parenting. That is why we designed Lumos around three non-negotiables:
1. Raise kids who can handle anything
We don't know what the future holds, so we must raise kids ready for anything. We need doers, creators, and entrepreneurial thinkers, kids who get excited by challenge and who embody the best of humanity: empathy, collaboration, and ingenuity.
2. Make sure no path is closed
Traditional pathways still matter. Students still need to pass the Matura, the IB, or the Multicheck. That is why we choose efficiency. 1-on-1 instruction (proven to be 2–3x faster) accelerates academic mastery, freeing up time for projects, teamwork, expeditions, and other skills that matter.
3. Make learning something kids love
There is no excuse for school to be boring. We refuse to let test-cramming extinguish a child's spark. We are building a place where learning is an adventure, and where children discover not just how the world works, but who they are.
This isn't just a school project; it's personal. We hope Lumos becomes a great school for your family, the way we’ve built it to be for ours.
Thank you for considering us.
Victoria & Alain
A letter to parents
from the school founders
Dear Parent,
Welcome to Lumos School. We’re Victoria and Alain, founders of the school and parents to three Lumos students.
Alain is Swiss. Victoria is from New Zealand. We’ve spent most of the past 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, building companies and raising our family. In 2024, we moved near Zurich and we love it here.
Our journey in education began six years ago when we founded Prisma, now the largest project based learning school in the USA. The results changed everything for us: 98% of students say they are happier, and they are growing academically at 2x the national rate. We’ve seen firsthand what is possible when education is rethought from the ground up.
But when we arrived in Zurich, we couldn’t find a school built for an accelerating future. So we built it.
Every decision we make affects our own kids, too. You could call that “skin in the game.” We call it parenting. That is why we designed Lumos around three non-negotiables:
1. Raise kids who can handle anything
We don't know what the future holds, so we must raise kids ready for anything. We need doers, creators, and entrepreneurial thinkers, kids who get excited by challenge and who embody the best of humanity: empathy, collaboration, and ingenuity.
2. Make sure no path is closed
Traditional pathways still matter. Students still need to pass the Matura, the IB, or the Multicheck. That is why we choose efficiency. 1-on-1 instruction (proven to be 2–3x faster) accelerates academic mastery, freeing up time for projects, teamwork, expeditions, and other skills that matter.
3. Make learning something kids love
There is no excuse for school to be boring. We refuse to let test-cramming extinguish a child's spark. We are building a place where learning is an adventure, and where children discover not just how the world works, but who they are.
This isn't just a school project; it's personal. We hope Lumos becomes a great school for your family, the way we’ve built it to be for ours.
Thank you for considering us.
Victoria & Alain
Common questions
Common questions
Families usually have the same core questions. These answers are our default, and we are happy to go deeper in a conversation.
Families usually have the same core questions. These answers are our default, and we are happy to go deeper in a conversation.
Is your school a good fit for very active kids, or do you mostly work best with kids that are calm?
Who is Lumos a fit for?
Is there an admissions deadline?
How much extra do the Lumos Expeditions cost?
If Fridays are learning from home, why is tuition still equivalent to that of other private schools?
Are children with special learning needs welcome in your school?
How does the tuition payment work?
Do you offer financial aid?
What additional costs should we expect beyond tuition?
Do you expect your fees to rise annually?