they may enter an apprenticeship. During the 2010-11 school year, there were a total of 695 students attending classes in Saint-Imier. There were 5 kindergarten classes with a total of 100 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 27.0% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 33.0% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 21 primary classes and 349 students. Of the primary students, 31.8% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 19.2% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 13 lower secondary classes with a total of 246 students. There were 19.1% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 15.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. , there were 396 students in Saint-Imier who came from another municipality, while 126 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Saint-Imier is home to 2 libraries, the Haute école Arc – Ingénierie and the Bibliothèque régionale de St-Imier. There was a combined total () of 29,145 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 41,777 items were loaned out. Transportation The municipality has a railway station, . The station is located on the Biel/Bienne–La Chaux-de-Fonds line and has half-hourly service to and . Mont Soleil can be reached with . Sports HC Sainti Bats plays in the Première Ligue, the fourth tier of Swiss hockey. Their home arena is the 3,000-seat Erguël Arena. Notable residents Alain Auderset, Christian author; George-Emile Eberhard, watchmaker and industrialist; Charles Guyot, professional road racing cyclist; Jonathan Hirschi, racing driver; Raymond Künzli, professional road racing cyclist; Conny Perrin, professional tennis player. References External links Webpage of the municipality of Saint-Imier Municipalities of the canton of Bern Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern