Shanghai, China Report of what it's like to live there - 07/19/10
Personal Experiences from Shanghai, China
School Name:
Shanghai Community International School
Background Information:
1. Are you the parent of a child(ren) attending this school? A teacher at the school? Or both?
parent
2. What grade or grades do/did your children attend at the school? During what year(s) did they attend the school?
1, 4, 7
3. During what years were you affiliated with this school?
2008-2009
4. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
Working for the U.S. Consulate
Admissions & Welcome:
1. Are the admissions and placement procedures clearly stated to prospective families, either on the school website or through other means of communication?
B+. Placement procedures were not very transparent, but they have a good admissions record.
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
A+. Great support for new families. They actively support people new to the school and to China.
Administration & School Procedures:
1. Describe the general climate of the grade level that you teach or your child attends:
This is a truly international school with kids from every continent. It is friendly, nurturing, and academically challenging at every grade level.
2. For the following attributes, down to the next blank box, grade your experience at the school on a scale of A (excellent) to F (unacceptable/terrible) and provide comments:<br><br>Overall fair and equitable treatment of all students and families:
A, except local Chinese children are not allowed to attend international schools. But I found the students enrolled were treated fairly across the whole spectrum.
3. How is the overall communication between teachers and parents, and the administration and parents? How is communication facilitated?
B. Pretty good, but they have "student led conferences" starting in elementary school which means the parents don't talk directly to the teachers. Each class puts out a monthly newsletter, but I got the feeling that one of my children's teachers wasn't really interested in two-way communication.
4. Services for gifted students who need academic challenge and students with learning difficulties:
B. Good support for ESL students, especially at the elementary level. Lots of kids from Europe who didn't speak English upon arrival got good support from the school. They don't have elementary school counselors, but try to deal with learning disabilities on a case by case basis. Unfortunately, not any services for gifted students.
5. Availability and variety of after-school activities for various ages:
A. All kinds of activities for all ages.
6. Maintenance of appropriately high standards for all students:
A. Very academically challenging-in a good, not punitive way.
7. Homework assigned (quality, quantity):
B. A little heavy on the homework, but not overly so.
8. Administration-parent communication:
A. Really good.
9. Teacher-student communication:
A. Really good. Teachers will e-mail students homework if asked and keep in constant contact.
10. Academics, answer the following questions "yes" or "no" with an explanation if appropriate:<br><br>Are there any classes or subjects where students are not appropriately challenged?
No.
11. Does your child receive any special-needs assistance or instruction at this school? If yes, what types? Who provides services and where:
Yes,but not directly from the school. We brought in an occupational therapist and speech therapist for our child and the school was very accomodating.
12. Do you believe the special-needs assistance is appropriate and fills your needs? Explain:
Yes, but it was from Special Education Consulting Shanghai. They had a office close to the campus and sent the therapists 5x a week. They are fabulous and will work with almost any international school.
13. Does the gifted and talented program meet the needs of students? Please explain:
No. See above.
14. Does the school offer a wide variety of elective or non-core classes such as art, music, and drama?
Yes, some great electives and the high school drama teacher at the HongQiao campus is fantastic!
15. Please describe any classes or programs that you believe are missing:
None that I can think of.
16. Are there academic requirements such as trips or other activities that cost money in addition to school fees?
Yes, there are uniform fees, sports fees. Lunch at the elementary level is included but not in the middle school.
17. What activities do you feel are missing?
None.
18. Have your children participated in the activities offered? If no, please indicate why:
Yes, and they loved it. Transportation was an issue, though.
19. Does the school provide appropriate assistance to new students?
Yes. Great support for new students regardless of when you move in.
20. Please describe any problem areas or challenges in social interaction at the school:
I saw none, which surprised me. It's a truly international school with no one culture dominating. Many of the kids are not native English speakers. They had Dutch and Finnish classes to help kids retain their native language, but there doesn't seem to be a problem with culture cliques. My middle-schooler's group of friends included kids from Brazil, Singapore, Korea, and Finland. They've all moved away but still keep in touch.
Academics & Resources:
1. What personal or academic counseling resources are available at this school? Is there a dedicated college counselor at the school? Is he/she familiar with universities worldwide?
C. They have a good High School counselor, but not much at the other levels.
2. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
A+. A really big library with plenty of books for all levels.
3. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
A+. Great program! All the middle school and high school students get Macbooks. The IT class in the middle school is outstanding.
4. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
A.
5. What is the approximate teacher-to-student ratio in the grades that your child attended?
A. About 1:18.
6. Are Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses available in upper grades? If this is an IB school, is the full diploma required of all students?
They were just getting the IB program going when we were there and the high school was very small. I really can't comment.
7. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
Yes. A lot of homework, but well thought out and not overly burdensome.
8. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
B. Lots available, including drama, orchestra, band, and choir, but the programs are still small.
9. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Yes. The teachers, except for Chinese language, are all fluent. My daughter's teacher was Danish but sounded like she was from California.
10. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
No. We didn't pursue this for our children, even though they were in TAG programs in the U.S. We had a friend whose son was at SCIS and is extremely gifted at math. His 1st grade teacher just couldn't be persuaded to make a separate curriculum for him and the school would not help them qualify for a California program. They were very disappointed and he was very bored.
11. What extra-curricular activities (including sports) are available at this school? Have your children participated in these activities? What activities do you feel are missing at the school?
Yes. They had Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, all kinds of after-school activities including dance and sports.
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
All the time. My children spent at least one afternoon a week on play dates and my middle-schooler and her friends rotated houses to study after school.
2. Are there are any problems with exclusionary behavior, cliques, or bullying at this school? Please describe any problems your children may have experienced in this area.
Very, very little that I noticed and one of my children had real bullying issues at a different international school in Shanghai. The school is really on top of this issue.
Overall Impressions:
1. What is the greatest strength of this school?
It's superb integration of children from all different cultures around the world.
2. Greatest challenge?
The campus is great, but the Chinese government keeps chipping away at the space. I hear the PreK classes have moved off campus.
3. Would you choose this school again? Why?
Yes. My children keep begging us to move back to Shanghai. SCIS was the best experience we could have imagined for them.
