Windhoek - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability of international schools? What has been your general experience with them, if any?
The Windhoek International School seemed to be quite poor in terms of quality of staff and resources. While we were there, two families with kids in MS opted to send their 14 year olds to boarding school in the UK rather than keep them at WIS. St Paul's is a competitive private school (they offered coding in 2015!) but I didn't know of any Embassy kids who attended it. A few Embassy families opted to send their kids to the bilingual German school. That seemed like a much better option than WIS. - Jan 2021
Most of the U.S. Mission children,including our 3, attend Windhoek International School (WIS). The website is www.wis.edu.na They have classes starting at Toddlers (age 2) through high school. They also offer after school care. WIS has the PYP (primary years program), A middle school program, and an IB Diploma program. WIS recently hired a new director, who is making improvements to the school. All three of our children are in pre-primary and we are happy with the education that they are receiving. Children in middle school and above are required to bring their own IPads to school. The school does everything electronically. Teachers have class blogs that explain the weekly schedules. Parents are also told to download the D6 Communicator, which is an App that the school uses to communicate with teachers and students. I have been a member of the PTA at the school for over a year now so I have been involved with the administration and staff. The PTA is very pro-active. We also currently have an AEFM who is a member of the Board of Directors and would like to continue to have a representative like this at the school. One area that the school could improve is in its sports program. The new director is working to bring sports programs and competitions between other schools to WIS. There are some after school activities such as drumming, guitar, karate, cooking, and Lego Club (to name a few). WIS is the only school in Namibia that operates on the Northern Hemisphere Schedule. There is transportation to and from school through the embassy. - Jan 2016
There seems to be a general "eh-ness" about the international schools, with many parents trying several different places during their tours. Namibian children, even in the expensive private schools, aren't taught how to read until they are seven, which leads to some heated discussions among the expat preschool set. Parents choose between Windhoek International School (which is not at all preferred for high school level), DHPS (a German school that teaches in English and German), St. Paul's, and St. George's. The best I've heard any school described as is "fine." - May 2013
Windhoek International School is the only "international" school. That said, I'm not sure how international it really is. They're in a period of transition (growing) which has had it's challenges. My children seem to enjoy it and are learning. I think it will be better once this transition phase is over - maybe in a few years. - Jan 2013
Windhoek International School is where our high school students attend. This school has PYP/IGCSE/IB programs and is the best for foregin students (Northern hemisphere calendar, int'l curriculum, etc.). It's small and doesn't have a lot of resources, but students do well here on the external exams. English instruction is not great, but that's because most students are not native English speakers. This is a borderline international school; many local students attend and the outlook can be very Namibian, at least among older students. The younger grades are more international. Other private schools are available, but not as academic (key if your student intends to attend U.S. or European universities). They run on different school calendars. - Jul 2012
