ISS School in Sosua

oaktown75

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Feb 9, 2005
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wondering if any of the posters here currently have children enrolled at ISS?Looking to get some personal experience feedback in regards to admin,atmosphere,etc.grades 10-12 preferably,but any feedback would be appreciated.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Try sending a Private Message to Chester4 (Sylvia). IIRC her children go there.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Oh well, she might still be able to advise, or at least put the OP in touch with someone whose kids are there now. :)
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
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I have visited the school, and was favorably impressed. I am sending my girlfriend's son to Garden Kids school, but that is for younger children. I am planning to send him to ISS when he is too old for Garden Kids. The ISS campus is impressive, and the atmosphere seems relaxed and intelligent. It is a "rich kids" school, but so is Harvard. Nueva Vida is religious, and I believe the Learning Center is a less established school. I had a very nice telephone conversation with the head of the Learning Center. She seems terriffic and is very proud of her school, but I got the impression that at this point the upper grades were new to the school, and that not to many had graduated and gone on to college. Of course that can cahnge very quickly. It's worth investgating, but at this point the ISS has the edge, in my opinion. - D
 

Gregg

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Apr 26, 2004
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web address

Danny W said:
I have visited the school, and was favorably impressed. I am sending my girlfriend's son to Garden Kids school, but that is for younger children. I am planning to send him to ISS when he is too old for Garden Kids. The ISS campus is impressive, and the atmosphere seems relaxed and intelligent. It is a "rich kids" school, but so is Harvard. Nueva Vida is religious, and I believe the Learning Center is a less established school. I had a very nice telephone conversation with the head of the Learning Center. She seems terriffic and is very proud of her school, but I got the impression that at this point the upper grades were new to the school, and that not to many had graduated and gone on to college. Of course that can cahnge very quickly. It's worth investgating, but at this point the ISS has the edge, in my opinion. - D

Had the pleasure to meet William and Joan Dentry, the director of ISS and his wife. Good people with a long history of teaching and world travel. They have a good feel for education and are professional. My meeting with them was social and not school/business related.

The ISS website (just in case you haven't found it already) is:

http://www.issosua.com

Personally, the school is a little pricey for our budget. Of course, we are used to lower education costs in Canada. I think the ISS runs about $5200 for the year for grades 9+. All of their fees are listed on the website. With extra costs (like bussing), we'd be looking at about $1000 USD per month for both kids.

My only concern with this and the other schools is the very low salary paid to the teachers. I am not convinced that you can attract and retain good teachers for so little money. I would ask about teacher turnover rates in these schools. The teachers make about $16,000 USD per annum. Good for the DR, terrible for teachers who are already in demand in Canada or the U.S..

What type of teachers would work for so little? I would guess there are plenty of idealists who try it and then give up in the first year.

If they have 12 kids in a class, they are grossing almost $6000 USD per month and paying out around $1600 USD (loaded costs) to the teacher. You can infer what you will from this arithmetic. Perhaps someone can provide some input as to how this compares with other private schools. I just don't see the value equation here.
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
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My guess is that 16K in the DR provides a much higher standard of living than a US teacher's salary provides, but I could be wrong. I would be interested in knowing what colleges the graduates went to. Perhaps the website has that info.