Shanghai Expat :: View topic - Yew Chung International School in Shanghai

Shanghai Expat

Family Life and Kids - Yew Chung International School in Shanghai

WendyCollins-Smith - Oct 09, 2004 - 09:50 PM
Post subject: Yew Chung International School in Shanghai

I am moving to Shanghai soon with the family and wanted to get some first-hand feeback about the Yew Chung International School in Shanghai. What is it like for Western kids? Is is good, bad or just ok?

bliss - Oct 10, 2004 - 12:02 PM
Post subject:

WendyCollins-Smith,

History:
YCIS is founded by a Hong Kong resident and started from HK. They are one of the pioneers in International schools in China.
School compound in Gubei:
Relatively small(may be only 20-30% of the size of the American school-SAS). Several new schools have bigger campuses.
Alternative schools:
Many others like SAS,British International, Canada International , Shanghai Rego, Shanghai Community, Dulwich College, Concordia and several more......I would explore others before YCIS.
Staff:
I found both their principal and course coordinators are arrogant and it is not to our liking for having such an attitude with parents, maybe nice at the beginning but not after you enroled into the school.
Their admin staff did not commit to their work well and provide empty promises, make frequent mistakes.
Many good teachers left last year, this year they have just added 27 new staff.
Students :
Mostly Asians with mix of small number of many diff countries, boast students from 40+ countries.
Several YCIS students were caught off campus dealt with drugs peddler at people square lasy year.
School activities :
Popular ones hard to get in and end up no extra activities for many students. School orchestra have a good support(from whose funds?) with annual oversea trips include several teachers in the orchestra team as well, students have to pay their own trip fares.
Marketing ploy :
They provide 2 teachers (English & Mandarin) at the same time in a class but the Mandarin teacher cannot converse well in English to parents and students donot use much time talking to the Mandarin teacher, according to one English teacher there he felt it is not much useful.
Side note:
1.Since opening school in Sept 1 after almost 2 months holiday break, new students still did not get their school uniform in full, we are talking about more than 3 months from school break.
2. They used to be good but not any more, some parents I talked to want to nake move after spend 1-3 years there.
3. Donot understand why they charge almost US$20K per year, a private run school set up by a multi billion dollar company SMIC here employing most expat teachers and the school fees is just US$4k+ per year.

The above is from my own personal opinion and experience, you may check with others (strictly without prejudice)

Good luck !!

Bliss ..

WendyCollins-Smith - Oct 10, 2004 - 02:20 PM
Post subject:

Bliss

Thank-you for your feedback, you seem to know a lot about the school. It is a really hard decision to make, especially as I have not seen any of the schools in person. What is SMIC company? Do your children go there?

KiwiTeacher - Oct 10, 2004 - 03:10 PM
Post subject:

Hey Bliss

Do you have a teaching background? What is life like at Yew Chung for expat teachers? Would you recommend it? I would like to know about the two-bedroom teaher apartments, negotiable salary, working conditions etc.

nicklar - Oct 10, 2004 - 03:15 PM
Post subject:

Wendy, are you looking for a U.K. based curriculum in particular? There are two schools in Puxi - Yew Chung and Rego, and two in Pudong - British International and Dulwich College. All of them will cost roughly the same. Yew Chung and Rego are Chinese-owned and hence have good Mandarin programs if that's what you're looking for. BIS is owned by Nord-Anglia from Britain and Dulwich of course is an off-shoot of it's famous namesake in London. I recommend that you spend time touring all the schools and surrounding areas. Then make a decision on where to live and send your kids to school after that.

bliss - Oct 10, 2004 - 04:53 PM
Post subject:

Wendy- SMIC is a semiconductor fabrication company which setup very recently and it is very sound and profit making company invetested billion of US$ in China. The school is meant for their employees children and I believe they have many expats and their children need intenational school environemnt but not willing to pay US$20K per child(say they have 100 expats with 1.5 kids each on average, this works out 3 million US$ for the company) and so they set up such school (correct me if I am wrong) but anyway, they are now open to non-employees children to have a bit of economical of scale in runing the school for diff grades, I guess it is not a money making school like the others. I have not enrol my child to that school yet. I reckon it is best for you to talk to each school and look around their facility and look at their curriculum.
Kiwiteacher - I am not a teacher there but I am one of the very concerned parents for their children. I know most teachers in YCIS are mostly from Oz or Kiwi and I believe it shd be good but I am not sure about teacher apt and salary. A 2-room apt normally rented at about 500-800 US$. Teacher salary probably depend on your teaching experience from US$3K to 5K? my guess.

Good luck to all !!

Bliss ..

MatildaGirl - Nov 05, 2004 - 04:19 PM
Post subject:

I would like to know more about this school too.

WendyCollins-Smith - Nov 06, 2004 - 06:54 PM
Post subject:

Well I have sent Yew Chung a few emails with no reply. Same has happened with Concordia and a few other schools as well. Have other parents experienced the same problems?

MatildaGirl - Nov 07, 2004 - 07:49 AM
Post subject:

I have emailled most schools with mixed responses. Some schools have sent heaps of information, whilst I have heard nothing from other schools. Maybe having five kids scares some of them off and they don't want to write back.

heyhunts - Nov 07, 2004 - 08:38 AM
Post subject:

Wendy
before we moved to shang 6 months ago, i did my prep work and sent emails to the 2 schools we were interested in putting our son in: SCIS (Shanghai Community International School) and SAS (Shanghai American School). Both responded to my emails. SCIS was much more helpful. and at least took the effort to personalize their messages more, and addressed us by our last names. SAS was more impersonal. As it turned out, we didn't like the environment at SAS anyway, not to mention that it's located out in the boondogs. Our son is little, and the school is too overwhelmingly big. We settled on SCIS in the end, and things are fine. we like it.

MatildaGirl - Nov 08, 2004 - 08:29 PM
Post subject:

Heyhunts

Glad you found a good school for your kids. I guess most international schools would be ok. I am interested in 'schools to avoid.' Perhaps there are not any, but it would be good to have some feedback.

heyhunts - Nov 09, 2004 - 06:20 PM
Post subject:

girl

can't quite say which ones to avoid. when you meet new friends here who are parents, they all tell you how good their kids' school is, followed by little nightmare stories of others they've been to. i guess the best way is to assess them yourself.
i can give some comments i've collected so far, not good or bad (or maybe a little of each!):
yew chung - not balanced enough in terms of nationalities, level of english poor
rego - way too far away, an impersonal principal (don't quote me! just what i heard!!)
SAS - some drug experimentation amongst the older kids
SCIS (my son's!) - some disenchantment amongst a few of the staff
i think there's always going to be something, so really, go see for yourself and ask your own questions......

bliss - Nov 09, 2004 - 06:59 PM
Post subject:

My 2 cents:
YCIS- unfriendly principle, poor admin staff. Unattentive to problems from top down, gathered from my past 1 year personal experience.
SAS - value for your monies with lots of activities and beautiful and functional spaces in such a hugh campus.
SCIS - have teacher who is not good command in English but teaching math and so students suffered, maybe few such teachers
Dulwich - Good but in Pudong
SMIC - lowest fees, try their best to have school curriculum for their employees' children and now open to outsiders

Good luck !!

Bliss ..

matty - Nov 09, 2004 - 07:30 PM
Post subject:

[edited - old text no longer relevant]

B.Griffin - Nov 10, 2004 - 11:45 AM
Post subject:

Matty

Glad to hear you are enjoying teaching at BISS. I am an Australian primary teacher looking for employment at an international school in 2005/06. Was it difficult to obtain a teaching position in China?

MatildaGirl - Nov 12, 2004 - 04:24 PM
Post subject:

I noted with interest that one of the Yew Chung campuses is located in a housing compound. The compound looked very flash and upmarket on the website. Has anyone visited this place?

nataku2212 - Nov 15, 2004 - 07:18 PM
Post subject: SMIC Student

hi. i know this may be a little bit off topic, but i was reading some previous posts and SMIC caught my eye. I am a student attending SMIC School. So this entry would be probably the most detailed entry on SMIC school.

SMIC is a fairly new school (only 4 years old) but is expanding rapidly. I was here since the beginning of the school and there were only 75 kids from grades 1-9! the next year that numbered doubled from grades 1-10. Then the third year it doubled again to around 300 from grades 1-10 (the 10th grade class from the second year left). and now in the 4th year, there is over 500 students from grades 1-11. The school not only expanded population wise, but also campus wise. There is now an elementary building and a middle/high building with student dorms for kids who live far away.

If you're a teacher looking for a job, i would recommend teaching at SMIC. School lunches take some time to get used to though Very Happy

. But I would say that the environment's great and the student teacher relationships are pretty good too.

If you're a parent and worried about the language barrier between teacher-student...forget about it. The CSL (chinese as second language) teachers at this school are all pretty good at english. And besides, there's plenty of kids like me in every grade to help them out in classes. Apart from chinese, all other classes are taught in English.

The parent-teacher connection is pretty good also. e-mails are very convinient here amongst the parents and teachers. Also, there will be plenty of (in my opinion--dreadful) progress reports that go out every half a quarter. Then there are report cards that go out every quarter.

BEWARE: Grades tend to drop when coming to our school. For some weird reason, straight A students are now lingering along Bs...but they do improve back up to a straight A standard. The curriculum here is pretty harsh in my opinion. There is a hard-core math teacher from Taiwan, and taiwanese teachers are crazy. GPAs will drop, however, a 65% in her class means you'll get a 90% in other teacher's math classes. But do not worry on your college stuff, she will right a very good letter of recommendation. Plenty of students under her have gotten into MIT, Caltech, GT, and Stanford. Other than her, there are AP courses being offered and Honors courses in English. And also, SMIC is a registered school on the College Board!

Taking PSAT/SATs is not a big hassle at all. PSATs are taken right at the school, and SATs as of now are being taken at Concordia (only about 10 minute car ride). And the best part is, the school treats us to Pizza right afterwards Very Happy

SMIC is not restricted to only employee's children. Due to some gov't thing about not giving lisences for new international school, SMIC has not recieved "international school" status. However, SMIC i would say would be amongst the top international Schools in shanghai. Every year, the school takes in more and more students from other international schools ex: SHSID, SAS, and Concordia (CISS).

I'm not too sure about the tuition for the school..but all i know is that SMIC employee's children get's some sort of discount..yeah. And i've heard things that there might be an SMIC School in Beijing as well since SMIC is also in Beijing (Tianjing and Chengdu as well).

If you are a teacher looking for a job and are worrying about a place to live, there is an LQ right across the street that houses most of SMIC Employees. There are individual apartments (1-4 bedrooms), villas (though i think that those are only for ppl who have a certain job grade or something), dorms (that aren't that bad actually), and there's a new section that's being built at this moment that are like those new york type houses with 3 floors but each floor isn't all that big?..but yeah.

wow that was a long entry. wait, i have homework to do too!..dah.

Well, I hope that was helpful to whoever needed it. If you have any more questions, then feel free to e-mail me at nataku2212@gmail.com

treehouse - Nov 19, 2004 - 12:00 PM
Post subject:

MatildaGirl wrote:

I would avoid Shanghai Rego at all costs. My son went there for a while and while he looked forward to going to school at his old school, he hated SRIS. Every morning it would be "I don't want to go to school, I don't like this school"! - every mother's nightmare. I can't begin to tell you what's wrong with this school, basically I don't think it's a suitable place for young children to be in (my kid is year 2 right now). The school is completely incompetent when it comes to working with parents, they take a very negative approach to discipline and the after school activities are of very low quality - they might as well just let the kids go home earlier.

MatildaGirl - Nov 20, 2004 - 02:47 PM
Post subject:

Bliss
What is wrong with living in Pudong?

bliss - Nov 20, 2004 - 11:18 PM
Post subject:

Nothing wrong with Pudong. If your office is in Puxi then it is more logical not to live in Pudong though I know few people do.

Good luck !!

Bliss ..

nicklar - Nov 21, 2004 - 05:50 AM
Post subject:

We made the move from Gubei (Puxi) to Jin Qiao (Pudong) this year due to a change of jobs and the commute being too long. Whilst we miss the convenience of Gubei it's much quieter and cleaner here. Plus it's much closer to the airport and Jin Qiao is going ahead a fast rate. It really depends on what you are looking for. Newcomers should check out all areas before making a decision.

hksoccermom - Dec 18, 2004 - 10:04 PM
Post subject:

I no this is old thread but I jst found it. Don't trust this skool. During SARS my child is being taught by teacher whose father has SARS. Her sisters waz also students at the school. They tell us that when she leaves she is going home for end of contract - nothing about SARS. They lieing so much, just love money and prestige. Don't even care for my child safety!!! We come bak HK last year. They also have disease in HK last year but they dun tell nobody until it's too late! I am gald my child in another school in HK!

MatildaGirl - Dec 20, 2004 - 07:55 AM
Post subject:

Wendy

I am visiting several schools in January with the kids and am happy to share the information I obtain with you.

WendyCollins-Smith - Jan 03, 2005 - 02:06 PM
Post subject:

Matilda Girl, Thanks. I looking forward to reading your comments.

Evie - Jan 28, 2005 - 02:53 PM
Post subject:

Hi Wendy,
We've lived in Shanghai before and have experience with 3 schools:
Yew Chung, Rego and SAS.
I can verify the above comments about Yew Chung and Rego. Even though our youngest had only two month preparation in English (for us a second language) He did not have to attent English as second language class at Rego. After half a year he could transfer to SAS and finally he is learning something and is placed in ESOL class! Also was Rego a boot camp experience for our son.
Over time we found out that it is important to have well organised school (with a steady history) with a good after school program (so they can do that together with their friends). It would be nice and practical to have a good after school bus system to drop off places near your compound.
For us SAS has been and still is the answer. Even though the school looks huge. There are three seperate buildings, so extually 3 schools. Very well organised. Great facilities. Also the Pudong campus is great. Our oldest goes there at the moment. Good luck... Evie

orchardst - Mar 03, 2005 - 05:11 PM
Post subject:

not if you want to keep your child healthy. cases of foot and mouth, food poisoning, etc. recently a child who was allergic to peanuts was given dumplings by his tcher - cooked in peanut oil!

zhw7 - Mar 04, 2005 - 11:37 AM
Post subject:

Yew Chung is good place.

jys390 - May 20, 2005 - 11:34 PM
Post subject:

As an experienced teacher in Shanghai (at the SMIC Private School) with familiarity with many of the other international schools, here is my breakdown of schools with truly western curriculum (to the best of my objective abilities)

Best Overall (Puxi): Shanghai American School (SAS) - Puxi Campus
There is a reason why this is the most difficult school to get into. They have a large waiting list because this school is the nearest thing you can get to a well-rounded, American curriculum. The management and facilities are top-notch. With a sprawling campus, SAS feels like a unique American retreat isolated from the rest of China - not unlike the gated communities for expats in the middle east. If you want your child to emulate the exact same lifestyle as he/she had in your home country (especially USA) and price is not an issue, then this is your first choice.

- drawbacks -
Price: USD20,000, distance from city center, long waiting lists, "wild" upperclassmen

Best Overal (Pudong): Concordia International School
A great management team with that creates a positive, structured curriculum. Much smaller than SAS, the school has a excellent facilities, and the entire campus (a beautiful, quaint office-building architecture) is hooked up to wireless Internet (all students are required to purchase a laptop for classes). It is a Lutheran based school, so there is more moral structure for the students (student uniforms, strong values educations). Smaller class sizes also help individualize learning. Also based upon an American curriculum, they offer nearly all the standard electives and college counseling as SAS Puxi.

- drawbacks -
Price: USD21,000, distance from city center, a relatively new school with a limited tradition of academic excellence for colleges (not that they aren't building one)

Best Value: SMIC Private School
A even mix of experienced and young, well-educated admin and staff (Yale, Stanford, Northwestern, UPenn, Cornell, Oxford, Harvard), small class sizes and the lowest price among schools using British or American curriculum (around USD6000, including 'management' fees). Has a unique bilingual structure with a completely American and completely Chinese curriculum under one roof (each student chooses one, but not both). Short waiting lists and a more sheltered social life. 2006 Middle/High School principal was Dean of Foreign Language department at Phillips Academy. *Finally, it has an award-winning student newspaper, the only true newspaper among int'l schools in Shanghai (okay, that's my bias: I was the faculty advisor!).

- drawbacks -
Distance from city center, functional but sparce, spartan campus and facilities. limited activities and electives. No academic tradition for colleges (first graduating class will be in 2006). Chinese-style cafeteria foods and small student population often has high schoolers in constant complaint. High faculty turnover rate. Sheltered student social life. Only accredited in China as of now (Chinese govt ceased giving new int'l school licenses in 2002)

Others -
Best Location: Yew Chung International School (YCIS) Gubei Campus
Best Chinese Language immersion - SMIC Private School/Shanghai High School-International Division (SHS-ID)/YCIS
Most Beautiful Campus: Shanghai American School (SAS) Pudong (next to the ocean, but very, very far from city center)
Best Academic Tradition: SAS Puxi
Best Athletics and Activities: SAS Puxi
Biggest: SAS Puxi
Smallest: Livingston American School

Worst (Objectively, really): SHS-ID
My experience with SHS students is this: It has too many apathetic local teachers and little to no supervision on the students. Students can go there for 8 years without basic English skills. Non-existent college counseling and planning. This is where excellent students struggle to create a college path by themselves, good students become average, average students go bad, and bad students commit crimes. Really. My understanding is that the management is purely Chinese aparitchik, and all the money from the large International Division used for its excellent Chinese track. Oh, and foreign students are not allowed into the Chinese track. You can get a good immersion in Chinese here, but only because so many 'international' students don't speak English at all. Meanwhile students learn how to sleep in class, ditch school, go nightclubbing, and worse.

One Last Note
On a personal level, I did graduate from what many consider the best international school in Asia - The Taipei American School. Great location in the heart of the city, top-notch academic reputation (5-10 Ivy League/Stanford enrollments a year). To this day they only charge around USD$14,000 per annum. And it is in a much more expensive country, with much less competition from any other int'l schools. So why do most of the Int'l schools in Shanghai charge so much? And all nearly hovering around USD20,000? It's almost like a backroom conspiracy, if I were prone to believe in that stuff. You would think someone would start to drive the market value down.

peacefulstar - May 21, 2005 - 11:54 PM
Post subject:

For what it's worth: I know this is an old post, yet I feel obliged to comment.
I am a teacher at Yew Chung. The school cannot compare to SAS when it comes to the campus, however, we do have an outstanding staff. I grew up in the US. I went to one of the best high schools in the country, so I think I have an idea of excellence in education.
I think our strong point is our dedicated staff. The facilities might not be the best, yet there is a positive atmosphere amongst students and staff.

Yew Chung offers a lot in terms of art, theatre and music, which I know is well known. Yet, from what I have seen, the school also provides a challenging curriculum in academics such as science, history, mathematics, etc.
I am new at the school and I am very happy teaching there. I find the students and the staff to be very positive and yet serious about education as well.

MPV - May 22, 2005 - 07:43 AM
Post subject:

This is an interesting and important thread. Its fascinating to hear reports on International schools from parents, teachers and students.

After years of sitting in on hundreds of school tours and orientations, I've learned its best not to usually give pre-conceived "rankings" or "ratings" of schools to my clients - unless I really, absolutely know what the family wants for their children - which is usually hard to know.

I've seen parents make successful and unsuccessful school choices at nearly all of the International schools, and the reasons vary tremendously. Smaller class sizes in places like SMIC or SCIS could be a huge benefit for a student with special needs, while the SAS's organized activities can become an integral part in some other children's happiness. Some parents view the challenge of a fully immersed bilingual Chinese education as an important process for their children, others feel that a child's education should stay on its own curriculum track without any confusing readjustments.

While I do perform constant follow ups on our housing clients to check on their happiness, I would like to get more specific feedback from them about their kids educations and the schools they chose. Hopefully in short time I'll be able to add their comments in their words to http://www.shanghaifinder.com/schools

As a real estate leasing and relocation agent, I should also throw in that its a good idea to be familiar with the office location of the working expat(s), and communicate it to your agent. This enables you to choose a community and a school that are all relatively commutable for your family. I mentioned this in a previous post, but I do feel for the expat kids who are sitting in school busses in traffic jams for over three hours per day.

MPV
(www.shanghaifinder.com)

jys390 - May 22, 2005 - 03:48 PM
Post subject:

I think a diversity of choices in terms of Int'l schools is great. I also think the difference in academic strengths adds to the palette. I think that a diversity in lifestyle, however, is more important. Unfortunately, I think that too many expat students here lack that uninsulated world experience.

I also would like to see a greater diversity in prices.

WendyCollins-Smith - May 22, 2005 - 04:26 PM
Post subject:

I agree with the last few comments about diversity. Every parent has different views about the ideal school. I am not worried about a flashy exterior (as long as it isn't run down) but more concerned with atmosphere and a caring environment. Somewhere the kids enjoy going every day and I feel my input is welcome.

WendyCollins-Smith - May 24, 2005 - 07:25 PM
Post subject:

Which international school has been around for the longest period of time?

moderator - May 25, 2005 - 02:07 PM
Post subject:

Re: Moderation of this thread.
While we try to keep an open forum here, one thing we are touchy about are posts that potentially defame local business - deserved or not. We are NOT in a position to checkout the validity of the accusations against these businesses nor take sides. In some cases, some serious allegations were made against a school here. Maybe they were true and maybe they were not. It may be our error that we moderate these posts.. but we have to err on the conservative side.

WendyCollins-Smith - May 25, 2005 - 06:37 PM
Post subject:

peacefulstar

You sound like a very dedicated teacher. I hope my kids get teachers like you.

WendyCollins-Smith - May 25, 2005 - 06:40 PM
Post subject:

peacefulstar

When will the new Yew Chung campus open? What age children will it cater for?

tnmom - May 26, 2005 - 08:54 AM
Post subject:

Quote:

Which international school has been around for the longest period of time?

THe Shanghai American School was here in the early 1900s, closed in 1949, then re-opened in 1980 on the grounds of the US Consulate. It's now the largest international school in China. Yew Chung has also been around for awhile - opening in 1993.

expat2 - May 31, 2005 - 09:44 AM
Post subject:

Anyone heard about the new international school-- Shanghai Xiwai International School, which is affiliated with Shanghai Int'l Studies Uni? Thanks.

seegy - May 10, 2006 - 11:06 PM
Post subject: Evaluation of Yew Chung International School

I need honest feedback about the Yew Chung Gubei Campus.
HOw international is it??????
Parents and teachers of the school please help with your feedback.
I am to be teaching there in Sept./06 and while their website is great,
I'm thinking things aren't always as they seem in pictures.
Am I being silly or is there a need for me to be causious?????????????
Thanks one and all
Seegy

Franko - May 15, 2006 - 05:09 AM
Post subject:

I'm very causious which skool I send my children too - especially on the quality of it's teaching staf.

StMichael - May 15, 2006 - 07:19 PM
Post subject:

I don't think Seegy caught your drift, Franko.

Loganth - Oct 22, 2007 - 09:27 AM
Post subject:

Does anyone have any comments regarding the British International School Pudong as I'm thinking of putting my six-year old son there. You can PM me with your views. Thanks!

RY

KungFu - Oct 25, 2007 - 11:59 PM
Post subject:

bliss wrote:

do you know if SMIC has any emphasis on chinese? we chose Yew Chung because it's about the only school where the kids get a decent amount of chinese language.

KungFu - Oct 26, 2007 - 12:08 AM
Post subject: Re: Yew Chung International School in Shanghai

WendyCollins-Smith wrote:

it's all "western kids" that go there. it's generally kids with parents who want them to learn chinese and the chinese culture. don't go there if you aren't interested in this. there are many asian-looking kids who don't speak a lick of chinese - and many caucasian kids who speak pretty well.

we are SUPER pleased with the school. it's not perfect, but it has the least uptight parent group and jesus isn't involved in the curriculum (like a couple other schools). the teachers are amazing - a few new ones that really have a lot drive and creativity and love. i don't love the administration (a bit cold) and the facility seems weird to me, but daughter is really loving it.

KungFu - Oct 26, 2007 - 12:16 AM
Post subject:

bliss wrote:

Several YCIS students were caught off campus dealt with drugs peddler at people square lasy year.

Marketing ploy :
They provide 2 teachers (English & Mandarin) at the same time in a class but the Mandarin teacher cannot converse well in English to parents and students donot use much time talking to the Mandarin teacher, according to one English teacher there he felt it is not much useful.
.

about the drug thing - why mention this? i know many high school kids from many schools with drug and alcohol problems. that is a HUGE problem with all expat high schools here. definitely don't mention just one school. not cool.

and i disagree that it's a "marketing ploy" - it's about the only school that even tries to make the kids bilingual. it's not a perfect program, but my daughter's chinese (written and verbal) have improved immensely since we've moved her to Yew Chung. i would say the "marketing ploy" comes from the other schools that say they are teaching your child chinese, when really, they move away from china after 2 or 3 years here - and can't even have a conversation with the people they live among.

KungFu - Oct 26, 2007 - 12:20 AM
Post subject:

peacefulstar wrote:

i agree. my daughter is a new student at yew chung (we moved her from another school). the staff and teachers are super upbeat and motivated. you can tell that they love what they do. it's very refreshing!

indus - Oct 26, 2007 - 06:16 AM
Post subject:

I very much agree that YCIS is an excellent school which lays a little more emphasis on education. My son had been going to an american school for two years but hardly knew chinese. Now with only two months in YCIS, I can see remarkable progress. They give good importance to chinese. Even though I know that chinese will not be of great use to my son when we move back home, I want him to atleast learn it as an additional language. Now, both my sons goto YCIS Pudong campus & I have absolutely no complaints. My younger one is 4 & loves his school & esp his teachers. The staff is wonderful.

jkahv - Oct 28, 2007 - 11:11 AM
Post subject: TO: KungFu

May I ask which YCIS campus is your child attending? I'm considering Yew Chung Pudong. Is this a newer campus? I heard a few bad things (in this forum) about Yew Chung's other sites. Does anyone else have updates?

Thanks!

indus - Oct 29, 2007 - 03:13 PM
Post subject:

My sons attend the Regency Park & Season's villa campuses.

hautumncloud - Oct 29, 2007 - 05:32 PM
Post subject: Re: TO: KungFu

jkahv wrote:

Yes, the one in Pudong is the new campus, adjacent to an international compound. Every school will have some bad and good comments about it. And some parents like this school or that vice versa. Ultimately, you will have to check out school yourself, take all the info (and more) and their curriculum and visit their school and then look at all your data from your own perspective. Its so difficult to pick the perfect school because there is no perfect school, just the most suitable for your children and only you as a parent will know which is the one.

All the best!

Andreas - Oct 29, 2007 - 07:47 PM
Post subject:

My daughter goes to YCIS since 5 years. We are very happy with the quality of the education she gets there.

StMichael - Oct 29, 2007 - 11:22 PM
Post subject: Re: TO: KungFu

hautumncloud wrote:

Its so difficult to pick the perfect school because there is no perfect school, just the most suitable for your children and only you as a parent will know which is the one.

Amen! All hands and feet up in support of your statement!

MidAgeG - Nov 26, 2007 - 12:43 PM
Post subject:

We have a 5 year old boy and would like him to have a balanced Chinese and English curriculum.
Would like to hear more recent views of Yew Chung School in Pudong Regency Park.
Also, is there other choice that we can consider?

StMichael - Nov 26, 2007 - 06:23 PM
Post subject:

I'm not too sure if you'd consider the Shanghai Singapore International School balanced in terms of Chinese and English curriculum (we're more slanted towards English), but we do offer Chinese from CSL to the Singapore (near native) to the local standard.

R_bounous - Nov 26, 2007 - 10:04 PM
Post subject:

When in doubt ask a teacher, they will give you the skinny rather than disgruntled parents who in many cases have no idea how children learn, particularly English. There are a hell of a lot of rumours and downright lies being circulated on this thread. Each school has advantage and disadvantages but there are no cowboy outfits that is for sure. It is worth remembering that the fact that you are paying does not mean you will recieve any sort of added value when compared to public schools back home. More often than not disgruntled parents are those that expect that little extra and are not used to being told they are not going to get it. My advice would be to choose the school most convenient to you and see how it goes. If you need some honest advice pm me.

MidAgeG - Nov 27, 2007 - 10:05 AM
Post subject:

Hi StMichael,

Thanks for your suggestion. We have decided not to consider SSIS for two reasons, first is the challenging academic standard, this is not necessary a bad thing but just not for our kid at this age, and we are kind of weary of the Singlish accent.

StMichael - Nov 27, 2007 - 09:44 PM
Post subject:

MidAgeG wrote:

we are kind of weary of the Singlish accent.

Heh...so does it mean that you'd pull out your kids or throw a fuss if you find out that the teacher teaching your kid at Yew Chung or SMIC (they've got faculty from Singapore) are Singaporeans? Just playing the devil's advocate here. Wink

MidAgeG - Nov 27, 2007 - 10:37 PM
Post subject:

Don't take this personally but I think the school environment there tends to promote Singlish. You know, the students also speak Singlish. Nothing wrong with that as most students may eventually pursure their further education at Singapore. It's just not for us.

StMichael - Nov 27, 2007 - 10:42 PM
Post subject:

Heh, nothing personal, don't worry - just trying to point out a perception bias in your thinking (I am a student of philosophy and thinking too!). Like I mentioned in the other thread, it is an uphill task for us educators to promote a "more high-classed" brand of English, rather than one they are familar with.

And you still have not answered my "trick question" - would you pull out your kids then? I suspect not, since your problem appears to be with the environment rather than the nationality of the faculty. Smile

oopsiedaisie - Nov 27, 2007 - 11:40 PM
Post subject:

I would not pull out my child for as long as the Singaporean teacher can be understood by my child and respects the school's intended educational philosophy - having worked at SSIS before- I found that Singaporean teachers have a set way of thinking and working that I could describe as interesting at best - nothing personal StMichael, just different. And I disagree that there is no such thing as standard English, the syntax of Singlish is rather special - often times difficult if not actually impossible to understand for it is a blend of Chinese dialects not even Mandarin) And no I don't know you - there was Madam Lim - head of English but don't remember or know you as head .

MidAgeG - Nov 28, 2007 - 11:35 AM
Post subject:

Thanks for all the feedback so far but the discussion is skewing towards SSIS. May I sak if anyone here have experience with Yew Chung School at Regency Park Pudong?

Batavia - Nov 28, 2007 - 01:03 PM
Post subject:

My son is in YCIS and we are happy with his progress.

HK2ShviaUSA - Nov 28, 2007 - 06:47 PM
Post subject:

been looking into schools again...and heard that the english level is not that high at YCIS compared to Concordia and SAS. My impressions (and only my impressions) are that there are alot of non-native English speakers (european, asian, etc.). They have a stronger emphasis on Chinese than SAS, Concordia (tourist chinese at best). I guess it depends on what you are looking for. YCIS is loosely based on the British curriculum (?). So it depends on what your kids' background is and what your objectives are.

Then again, I have heard that Koreans, Japanese and returning Chinese/Asians form a huge majority of the kids in SAS. So I question the english level there. But, looking at my friend's kids writing samples from SAS, the quality is certainly better than what my kids are doing (we are at a 50%-50% bilingual international division of a chinese school).

StMichael - Nov 28, 2007 - 09:02 PM
Post subject:

To avoid hijacking this thread, I'd like to invite oopsiedaisie over to the other thread, where I'd continue my points about the Singlish creole. If you mention Mdm Lim, you must be at the Minhang campus. The Senior Head at Xuhui campus says hi to a former staff! Smile

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/index.php?name=MDForum&file=viewtopic&p=764778#764778

Manya - Nov 30, 2007 - 03:11 PM
Post subject: Re: Yew Chung International School in Shanghai

WendyCollins-Smith wrote:

Dear Wendy,

This is Marina from the marketing department of Yew Chung International School of Shanghai. I am sorry that you could not contact us. Please re-send your request to our Admissions Officer Mr Gerhard Peter (gerhardp@sh.ycef.com).

YCIS Shanghai is the oldest international school in this city. We have many strengths such as bilingual curriculum, strong ESL programme, dedicated teachers, intensive music and art programmes, international environment, convenient locations both in Pudong and Puxi, etc. YCIS Shanghai nurtures the whole person and promotes Christian moral values.

We will be happy to arrange a tour for you once you are in Shanghai.

sc_saetang - Jan 14, 2009 - 02:13 PM
Post subject:

Dear All,

We are considering enrolling our kids (10 and 7) at YCIS in Aug-09 and would like to hear more from parent.

Since the school claims that it offers 70% Eng and 30% Chinese, we wonder if the Eng level is not as high as other international school?

Thanks

iara - Jan 14, 2009 - 04:27 PM
Post subject:

My son goes to Concordia.A friend's daughter to YCIS. Both are in the same level, for the same years (both did pre-school, kindergarten, 1st and now are in the 2nd grade). Both are from Brazil, with no english background at all.
So, what I can compare is: My son english is much better, he speaks fluent english. But my friend's daughter chinese is way much better, she is even writing.
At Concordia, mandarim is not so important; just now my son is learning more characters and having homework.
So, I think it all depends in what you need/want.
I'll be happier if my son's chinese was better, but I'm quite happy with his english level.

StMichael - Jan 14, 2009 - 05:23 PM
Post subject:

sc_saetang wrote:

Since the school claims that it offers 70% Eng and 30% Chinese, we wonder if the Eng level is not as high as other international school?

I am an educator by training and by profession. Why would a school with 70% English have an English level not as high as a school that offers 100% English? If the logic is there, then educational systems like Singapore's (where one cannot go to university if he fails Chinese) can be assumed to have a lower level of English compared to the American educational system.

CwangPlee - Jan 14, 2009 - 10:25 PM
Post subject:

i would advice you not to go to YCIS. i am 14 years old, attended that school for 3 years and i am currently in shanghai american school. i would say that ycis is a school that tries to get as much money as possible and they are not organized and stuff. however i would say shanghai american school, i am very impressed by how organized it is, it is also a non profit school

jfpower - Jan 15, 2009 - 08:00 PM
Post subject:

Did they also teach you to use capital letters to begin sentences "and stuff"?

StMichael - Jan 16, 2009 - 05:12 PM
Post subject:

Both Yew Chung and Shanghai American are not-for-profit organisations.

hctshanghai - Jan 18, 2009 - 04:08 PM
Post subject:

Hi. I must say that I can agree with some of the others about the unfriendliness of YCIS and the administration. This is our second round of living in Shanghai, the first time 2002-2004. YCIS has expanded. We chose to send our four children to YCIS again because we were pleased with what our children were learning. I think that every school has its downfalls. I think you will hear negative stories from each and every parent as well as positive stories ( I kind of think it's like talking to women about their birth experience-some see all the bad and some see all the good). I think all the international schools are way over priced, regardless it's what we are stuck with. The main thing is go visit the schools, talk to the administration and "get the feeling" about what school you think is best for your child. And you must have a back-up because sometimes there are waiting lists (although that migh be improving since many expats are being sent home). Also, you want to be living in an area near your school instead of across town. I know some families who have been living here for 5-7 years and have had their children in YCIS and are really liking it for their children. I believe the British system is quite different from the way our schools function in America, but at this point, I think that my kids are getting the Mandarin quite well at YCIS and they also emphasize the arts which is a nice change. Seem like that is the first to go when making budget cuts in the schools in America. So, again, visit the school and see what you like and don't like and compare that way. Hope this helps.

All times are GMT + 8 Hours
Powered by MDForum 2.0.7 © 2003-2007 based on phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Team
and by MDTheme which uses Theme Graphics by Daz
and by Attachment-Mod 2.4.3