Posted by
Xpatwife
18 yrs ago
Hi,
I am new to your board. We are relocating to Hong Kong from Dubai. I have a few questions regarding schools. I have searched your board for info on schools and cannot find it. I know it is there, can someone guide me? Thanks.
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F100
18 yrs ago
dear xpatwife,
you have to be more specific.
what do you want to know?
ie.. what are the names of the schools?
how old is your child?
comments regarding schools.
depending on the age of your child, some international schools have waiting lists.
many will require your child to write an entrance exam.
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Ed
18 yrs ago
http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/directory.asp?cat=204
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tala
18 yrs ago
If you follow the link above you will get an idea of what's available here. So much will depend on the type of curriculum you are looking for. We came from Dubai some years ago (JESS,DC) and our kids went into the ESF system here. Fairly painless and reasonably similar. The thing you will find the same as DXB is the issue of availability; school places can be difficult to get so you need to act soon. Let me know if I can help further
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F100,
My post was completely vague, sorry. What I am looking for is info on American schools in HK. My children are 5 and 10, so KG2 and Gr4. I was hoping there was an information page on the board where I could read thru past threads because most of my questions would be answered there. Is one American school preferred over another? I am aware of the waitlists, but fortunately the company my husband is with has debentures. This will definitely help.
Ed, thanks for the link.
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maz27
18 yrs ago
Xpatwife - I have sent you a pm
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XPATwife -
you may want to post on moms and dads forum - you'll get a lot more results there. In short, the most "American" type school in HK, is Hong Kong International School which follows US curriculum and students tend to matriculate quite heavily to US universities - although not all. There is American International School (AIS not to be confused with Australian International School) but it is not as well established as HKIS. HKIS has two campuses and has some of the best facilities for schools in HK. Waiting lists, testing and all that good stuff go hand in hand for HKIS. Best of luck.
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Thanks for the replies.
Our children have been attending an American school in Dubai but the student body is very international. We love this and are hoping to find a similar school in HK. Are there any schools that sound similar? Switching curriculums would not rock my world. Am planning a trip out in the coming weeks. This move just happened last week.
Maz27 - sadly I cannot figure out how to pick up the PM. I am such a non-techie! Any clues?
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mrsl
18 yrs ago
Mobile.Fidelity, the schools that most closely follow the British National Curriculum are the German Swiss International School (GSIS) and Kellett. Kellett is primary only, although apparently that may change in time.
The ESF (English Schools Foundation) is switching to the IB from the PYP (Primary Years Programme) to the diploma. I'm sure it still maintains its British ethos though, and has a very international student population. A search on the Mums and Dads forum will give much more detailed information on individual schools within the ESF system. There are also a few more recent threads in Soeaker's Corner.
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kar
18 yrs ago
Before kids, I taught at HKIS. It is a very international school. About 50% of the students hold US passports (of these some are also ethnically Asian) and there are students there from over 40 countries. I also disagree with the one or two non-Asians per class.
It is a large school, but when I taught middle school there the teachers all know the kids. I found the teachers to be much more involved with how their students were doing (especially socially) than when I taught in the US.
I would not recommend American International School at all. I interviewed there many years ago when it was called California International School and it is totally different from HKIS.
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F100
18 yrs ago
dear xpatwife,
you are very lucky that your husband's company has a debenture at the school.
it should make it quite a bit easier to get in.
as for HKIS, i have many friends who have sent their kids there. like any school you hear some bad things and good things.
i have friends whose kids went there and afterwards got into ivy league schools such as Stanford, Harvard, and Princeton.
i've heard a few bad things such as kids doing drugs....however, you can have that problem in any school.
the main thing is to make sure that your kids hangs out with other kids who share similiar goals and values that you have.
i would strongly recommend taking a tour of the different school and making a list of questions.
some of the questions i asked were:
what is the teacher turnover rate?
what is the student turnover rate?
ratio of teachers to students
school timetable of activities
qualifications of the teachers
typical hours of homework depending on grades
school philosophy
etc..
a lot of the international schools have quite a high turnover rate of students (ie..expat leaving, boarding school)...this can be an issue especially once the kids are older, they can become very sad when a good friend suddenly leaves).
good luck
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My kids went to HKIS and there were 2 non-Asians in the primary school classes that i knew about, but I wouldn't consider this a reason to choose or not choose a school. You can't really go wrong with any of the international schools in HK.if u can get in or afford the fees, your kids are going to get a good education here in HK>
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