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StMichael
Ranter
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
June 02, 2006 - 04:51 PM |
 
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Hi, ex-pupil! Do I happen to know you? 
Why not share with the forumers here from the perspective of a pupil at SMIC what you mean by much harder, so that the parents here can benefit? |
_________________
Michael Chan www.senseimichael.com |
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emselst
Lurker
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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June 13, 2006 - 08:31 PM |
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Another option not mentioned before is Shanghai United Bilingual School (aka Xiehe Bilingual School aka Shanghai United International School) - it is a Chinese school with a International track in Hongqiao and they are talking about opening a campus in Pudong in the next year. They have a low teacher student ratio (9:1) because they have a Chinese native speaker and English native speaker teaching every class. They also offer pullouts for CSL and ESL so the kids have the opportunity to catch up with their peers if they aren't fluent in both or either. It is an IB school. And much lower price than it's big name counterparts. |
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HK2ShviaUSA
Reacher
Joined: Feb 14, 2006
Posts: 274
Status: Offline
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June 13, 2006 - 11:56 PM |
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emselst, have you gone there for a visit? and where is your daughter now? You previously posted that she wasn't happy at YCIS. |
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emselst
Lurker
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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June 14, 2006 - 01:43 PM |
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Yes, I've been to SUBS/SUIS/Xiehe (they've recently changed their name, and I'm not sure which one is official) for a visit. It had a small school feeling, with a lot of attention paid to the individual needs of the children. They boast that they combine the best of Western and Eastern teaching methods by having a Chinese and English teacher in all classes at all times. And, unlike YCIS (which also does this with the teachers) they actually teach subjects in English and Chinese, instead of teaching subjects in English and Chinese in Chinese. I also have a friend that has had her kids there for 3 years, and they are quite happy with it. They are older children (10-12 years) and they are both bilingual now.
Currently, we have our daughter at a local Chinese kindergarten, which is much more play oriented (ironically) than YCIS. YCIS just didn't pay careful attention to detail and was not attentive to her individual needs. She started halfway through the year, and so she was behind and they just threw her in and expected her to just figure it out. There was a lot of damage done because of this sink or swim attitude. But, that said, I know several people who really are very happy with YCIS. It all comes down to everyone is different. It didn't work for us, but that doesn't mean it is a bad school. |
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HK2ShviaUSA
Reacher
Joined: Feb 14, 2006
Posts: 274
Status: Offline
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June 14, 2006 - 02:35 PM |
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They're in Puxi right? well, something to keep in mind since we are now in final negotiations for a house in Puding. |
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emselst
Lurker
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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June 14, 2006 - 08:40 PM |
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yes, they're in Puxi. But, they have "plans" (nothing specific yet) to open a campus in Pudong. They told me 1 year from now, but nothing is for certain.
Good luck with your house! |
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StMichael
Ranter
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 14, 2006 - 08:53 PM |
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I'm always very curious over one thing - for a school to get top notch teachers, they probably have to pay top-notch salaries. How do schools which don't command high fees pay their teachers? They must have some secret that my company does not...hmm... |
_________________
Michael Chan www.senseimichael.com |
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emselst
Lurker
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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June 14, 2006 - 09:09 PM |
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Yes, that's true. In logical terms, you are abolutely right. But it is really much more complex than that.
I think some reasons the REALLY expensive ($20G/year) international schools charge so much is because:
a- they can because what other choices do parents have when they feel so out of place? Plus, to attend these schools, you HAVE to have a foreign passport, which means that most of the people who attend receive an education allowance that covers all or most of the tuition.
b- they generally build new facilities (as I said, SUIS is a Chinese local school with an international branch, which means it is not a western facility)
c- they import teachers so they have to pay them a lot more, packages etc... whereas the bilingual schools only import about 1/2 of their teachers, and the other 1/2 are local and don't receive packages. YCIS is an exception to this, although they may import many of their Chinese speakers as well since they are a Hong Kong based school, I'm not sure.
I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons, and I'm not an expert. I am only making observations. It seems a very bad idea to assume that just because the school is expensive that they pay their teachers well, and that because they pay their teachers well, it means they are top notch. It is not always as it seems.
It is my opinion that quality teaching doesn't necessarily have to do with how much you are paid, the facilities you are teaching in, or what country you come from. |
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StMichael
Ranter
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 14, 2006 - 09:13 PM |
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playmaker
Barker
Joined: Apr 21, 2006
Posts: 170
Status: Offline
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June 21, 2006 - 12:48 AM |
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i have to fully agree with emselst - that just because some international schools pay their teachers well, doesn't mean they are top notch, nor does it means that the kids are getting a reasonably good education.
It would be not be wise for anyone to assume that low salaries means the teachers in that school is of low teaching standards. |
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StMichael
Ranter
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 21, 2006 - 06:27 PM |
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Yup...otherwise I'd be saying that I'm a poorer teacher than my SAS counterparts ! |
_________________
Michael Chan www.senseimichael.com |
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playmaker
Barker
Joined: Apr 21, 2006
Posts: 170
Status: Offline
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June 21, 2006 - 07:31 PM |
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Right on target ! Because you wouldn't want people to consider that just because the fees in singapore International is about 40% lower than the american international schools, so therefore the quality of education is half as good. But then again, no one really knows the true reality of the quality standards |
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StMichael
Ranter
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 21, 2006 - 07:39 PM |
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That's right! Until you get to hear from other parents, or experience it for yourselves! And even then we find ourselves getting our fair share of praises and brickbats... |
_________________
Michael Chan www.senseimichael.com |
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emselst
Lurker
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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June 21, 2006 - 09:08 PM |
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St Michael,
we really liked Shanghai Singapore International School, and in fact, we almost enrolled our daughter there. The only drawback for us was that there is no Pudong campus. Do you have any plans to open a campus in Pudong? When? |
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StMichael
Ranter
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 586
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 21, 2006 - 09:52 PM |
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Pudong campus is highly unlikely. The Xuhui campus (just across the Xupu bridge) is already drawing pupils from Pudong, and our boss has just invested plenty of money to build the new campus in Minhang. By the time he thinks of building a campus in Pudong...well...you'll probably have gone back to your home country! |
_________________
Michael Chan www.senseimichael.com |
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joejoeyu
Talker
Joined: Oct 07, 2005
Posts: 94
Status: Offline
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July 12, 2006 - 03:36 PM |
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| emselst wrote: |
| Another option not mentioned before is Shanghai United Bilingual School (aka Xiehe Bilingual School aka Shanghai United International School) - it is a Chinese school with a International track in Hongqiao and they are talking about opening a campus in Pudong in the next year. They have a low teacher student ratio (9:1) because they have a Chinese native speaker and English native speaker teaching every class. They also offer pullouts for CSL and ESL so the kids have the opportunity to catch up with their peers if they aren't fluent in both or either. It is an IB school. And much lower price than it's big name counterparts. |
Hi Emselst,
Pls could you give me more info about the Shanghai United Bilingual School. Do they have a website so that I search it for more details. Thanks a lot. |
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SaraC
Barker
Joined: Oct 17, 2004
Posts: 197
Status: Offline
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July 12, 2006 - 03:49 PM |
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patriciaychou
Seeker
Joined: July 28, 2006
Posts: 63
Status: Offline
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Aug 01, 2006 - 08:11 PM |
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Unfortunately, I have to disagree about Livingston. I thought the small classes, nice environment & reasonable tuition fee was a plus when I registered my kids last Fall but ended up taking them back to the US after only enroled in class for two months bc my son & daughter (7 and 4 at that time)were the only native English speaker among ALL Korean speakers. They had to boot my kids two grade levels up and they learned nothing, infact, fell behind when they entered school back home in CA. I was also told when I first registered at their school that they were accredited by the US bc they used an American curriculum, but was misinformed when I contacted the US accreditation association directly. The staff and teachers are very sweet, though I found that they are very young & inexperienced. During a parent conference, I spoke with my daughter's kinder/1st grade teacher who was a new graduate from the US, she told me she couldn't wait til her contract was up in a year when she had only been in Shanghai for one month! So I expect the turnaround rate of the teaching staff must be often.
On another note, has anyone ever heard of the Xiehe Chinese/International School in Hongqiao??? |
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emselst
Lurker
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 23
Status: Offline
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Aug 02, 2006 - 12:05 AM |
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| patriciaychou wrote: |
On another note, has anyone ever heard of the Xiehe Chinese/International School in Hongqiao??? |
patriciaychou,
look at the last 5 or so posts, and there is lots of info about Xiehe/Shanghai United Bilingual School/Shanghai United International School |
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courtneyandrews72
Lurker
Joined: June 22, 2006
Posts: 24
Status: Offline
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Aug 02, 2006 - 03:05 PM |
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What does SMIC stand for????  |
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tnmom
LoopKicker
Joined: Mar 04, 2004
Posts: 929
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Aug 02, 2006 - 03:40 PM |
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courtneyandrews72
Lurker
Joined: June 22, 2006
Posts: 24
Status: Offline
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Aug 03, 2006 - 12:11 AM |
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Thanks "tnmom" - all these acronyms flying around!! |
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patriciaychou
Seeker
Joined: July 28, 2006
Posts: 63
Status: Offline
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Aug 03, 2006 - 05:34 PM |
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Thanks "emselst" for the info and I will look into seeing other posts on Xiehe. |
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coffeemate747
Newbie
Joined: Aug 04, 2006
Posts: 1
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
Aug 04, 2006 - 09:59 AM |
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| Post subject: montessori school of shanghai is best to me |
montessori school of shanghai is the best to me. I am a mother of a child of 3 years old and my daughter does enjoy her schools in MSS and also I am pretty satisfied with it due to its philosophy and I can tell it is the only authetic montessori school in shanghai. I do appreciate what they offer and this is the best gift I can give to my child I think. |
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HK2ShviaUSA
Reacher
Joined: Feb 14, 2006
Posts: 274
Status: Offline
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Aug 17, 2006 - 01:37 AM |
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Ok....so where is this montessori school in Pudong? |
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