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speaker
Newbie
Joined: Sep 05, 2007
Posts: 1
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Sep 05, 2007 - 11:35 PM |
 
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| StMichael wrote: |
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| First of all, the food is very very bad and most of my classmates don't even eat lunch. |
Ha! Oh how I understand! But if your principal eats it, then you jolly well can eat it too, my dear! |
Really?
You should throughly understand our principal first.
By throughly I don't mean saying a 'hi' to him, I mean knowing him.
I don't get how he became a principal; he can't even speak english properly. |
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StMichael
Rocker
Joined: Feb 19, 2005
Posts: 783
Location: Qibao, Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Sep 11, 2007 - 11:05 PM |
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Hmm...how do you define speaking English properly? The ability to hold an intelligible conversation? Or must he have a Bronx accent, or perhaps use Received Pronunciation or Queen's English? Perhaps I don't know him as well as a member of staff, but I have carried on a conversation longer than a "hi" with him.
As an educator and manager myself, I know of many talented Math teachers or French teachers who cannot speak English "properly" (I suspect that's what you were referring to). If that makes them any less of an educator, then I have nothing to say. |
_________________
Michael Chan www.senseimichael.com |
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Dextrum
Seeker
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
Posts: 46
Location: me:Shanghai my money:bvi and caymans
Status: Offline
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Sep 12, 2007 - 09:57 PM |
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I heard a lot about SMIC.they all said its a very good school but also very difficult to get in. is that true? i mean for a 6 years old? |
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sbergman
StreetBeater
Joined: Sep 12, 2007
Posts: 2350
Status: Offline
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Oct 16, 2007 - 10:45 PM |
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My children are at SMIC and, overall, we are happy. My kids chose SMIC themselves because they liked that they could take Chinese five days a week and that they would have more exposure to local kids than at some of the international schools. We were pleased that this was the criteria they were using and VERY pleased at the price as we are not here on a package. The bus service was also very welcome.
Overall we have found the teachers to be great. We love the mix of nationalities, that the kids socialize without regard to nationality, and that they don't seem to be status conscious.
My only caveats would be that SMIC has a reputation for assigning more homework than some of the other international schools (I don't know if this is true, in fact). The Christian aspect (noted above) took us by a bit of a surprise. We had been looking forward to a break from the religiousness of where we live and are a little dismayed to be having our children doing Christmas pageants at school. It would have been nice if there had been a little more disclosure of this aspect of the school. The bus schedule has prevented my child from being able to participate in team sports but they are starting activities during the final period of the day which will be nice. My only real complaint would be the SMIC website which is never up-to-date (seems ironic for a school associated with a high tech company) but the school sends home many paper communications.
I think it is an excellent value. (Do be aware that in addition to tuition, you will pay extra for bus service, books, Western lunches, and some activities. Probably about $1500/child over the course of the year.) |
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jkahv
Seeker
Joined: Sep 05, 2007
Posts: 65
Status: Offline
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Oct 17, 2007 - 08:44 AM |
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| Post subject: To: sbergman |
May I ask how long your children are in the school bus one way? Do you and family live close to Zhangjian Hi Tech Park where the SMIC school is located?
My husband and I would love to have our children attend SMIC but this school seems very far away. He works in Puxi and we were wondering how bad the commute would be if we choose to live closer to the school IF our kids could get in.
Were your children on their waiting list? I (and many other parents) have heard that it's hard to get in as more and more families are interested in the SMIC School.
Thank you! |
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sbergman
StreetBeater
Joined: Sep 12, 2007
Posts: 2350
Status: Offline
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Oct 17, 2007 - 07:38 PM |
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We live close to the Science Museum. My children get on the bus at 7:20 a.m. for school at 8. I thought it would seem long to them but they don't seem to mind - they either sleep or do homework on the way. I know that there is one child on their bus who is coming from Puxi (near Fudan). When we've taken a taxi to school it has taken about 20 minutes (maybe a little more if it was the morning commute).
We were not on a wait list. We applied last January and had no trouble getting in. I'm beginning to wonder why, though, as several people have told us that they'd heard it was hard to get in or that they have children on the waitlist. It could be a little "affirmative action" - our children are native English speakers and their white faces qualify them as minorities at SMIC. Or maybe we just got lucky on the grade slots we needed.
Feel free to PM me if you need more info. |
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jkahv
Seeker
Joined: Sep 05, 2007
Posts: 65
Status: Offline
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Oct 22, 2007 - 11:37 PM |
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| Post subject: TO: sbergman |
Thanks again! I plan to visit the SMIC School in late November and ask them about the waitlist (among many other questions.) My children are native English speakers but we don't look Western and their "affirmative action" (if any) may not apply to us  |
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