I need help finding a good school!

paulinehh

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Jul 29, 2005
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I am looking for a good bilingual school for my daughter. we are moving to Santo domingo this winter (x mas 2005) and she is 4 years old. we are from holland and i am looking for a good school with the International Baccalaureate Program. i heard the st george is very good and has that program. but they say its very expensive. can anybody help me with some list of international schools in SDQ with the so cold International Baccalaureate Program? that would be great. thanks a lot, xxxx Pauline
 

Mirador

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paulinehh said:
I am looking for a good bilingual school for my daughter. we are moving to Santo domingo this winter (x mas 2005) and she is 4 years old. we are from holland and i am looking for a good school with the International Baccalaureate Program. i heard the st george is very good and has that program. but they say its very expensive. can anybody help me with some list of international schools in SDQ with the so cold International Baccalaureate Program? that would be great. thanks a lot, xxxx Pauline


good bilingual schools in the DR are only available to those in the filthy rich income bracket, however, I would recommend two: Community of Learning, and New Horizons.
 

paulinehh

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International Baccalaureate Program

Mirador said:
good bilingual schools in the DR are only available to those in the filthy rich income bracket, however, I would recommend two: Community of Learning, and New Horizons.

I know about the high prices, but still would like to choose an international school overthere. Do you have idea if the ones you mentioned, also work with the International Baccalaureate Program? How much a year do they cost more or less? Thanks a lot!
 

RHM

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paulinehh said:
I know about the high prices, but still would like to choose an international school overthere. Do you have idea if the ones you mentioned, also work with the International Baccalaureate Program? How much a year do they cost more or less? Thanks a lot!

You don't have to worry about the Internation Baccalaureate just yet. You kid is only 4. The IB is a high school level program (equal to a high school diploma when applying to international universities). You can change school a million times before your kid graduates and it won't matter.

Take a look at several schools and ask a lot of questions. Do a lot of research and don't be inpressed by snazzy uniforms and "window dressing". Those things usually have little to do with education but are there for show. I would ask to sit in on a class. If a school wants your business they should have no problem proving their worthiness to you.

Mirador is partly right. Private schools can be expensive but with some you will get more bang for the buck.


Scandall
 

Keith R

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I believe that Cleef used to teach at St. Georges, so you may wish to PM him and ask for his insights.

Scandall, I seem to recall you saying once that you teach at ICDA. If so, what do you think of its grade school?
 

RHM

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Keith R said:
I believe that Cleef used to teach at St. Georges, so you may wish to PM him and ask for his insights.

Scandall, I seem to recall you saying once that you teach at ICDA. If so, what do you think of its grade school?

Cleef and I both used to work together at a diffferent school (not St George). Cleef has moved back to the states and I have since moved on to a different private school that I would recommend to anyone. It is fantastic.

If you want any specific opinions on any school feel free to PM me. I'll do my best to help out.

Scandall
 

Cleef

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PM Scandall

Scandall said:
Cleef and I both used to work together at a diffferent school (not St George). Cleef has moved back to the states and I have since moved on to a different private school that I would recommend to anyone. It is fantastic.

If you want any specific opinions on any school feel free to PM me. I'll do my best to help out.

Scandall
Scandall's school has some great teachers, and from the students I've spoken to, they love the school. From what I understand the teachers and students are very happy there, that in itself is surely a good place to start.

And with such a young student, you've got time to shop. Starting at a "happy" place is a really good way to get your feet wet, so to speak. Bilingual to boot.

The window dressing is something you should definitely take very little stock in. The old "book/cover judging" arguement.

"Our" school dressed them up real good and preached good values, but didn't follow through. IMO anyway.
 

Chirimoya

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My son (5) has just completed the pre-Kinder year at the school where Scandall teaches. I can heartily recommend it, and it is not prohibitively expensive. Send me (or Scandall) a PM for more details.
 

paulinehh

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Chirimoya said:
My son (5) has just completed the pre-Kinder year at the school where Scandall teaches. I can heartily recommend it, and it is not prohibitively expensive. Send me (or Scandall) a PM for more details.

hello everybody, thanks for all the helpfull responses!!
i saw that school "the new horizons' also on this website:
http://www.dominicanrepublic.com/education/school.php
but somebody told me the website is not complete though?
What is the ICDA? is that some international christian dominican school?
may be you could give me the full name and may be prices?
it would be great to see some websites about all those schools.
but not even the st george schools website is opening right for me.
thats such a pitty.

another question, if i arrive at x mas, will i have time enough to visit schools and make appointments (as the school are on hollidays) to get a good decision before 10 january?

The choices are very wide, i work in the international school of amsterdam myself and here we dont have all those choices!
Thanks again and i will PM some of you later for personal info.
Bye, Pauline
 

Chirimoya

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See my PM for more detailed replies. New Horizons should have their own website as I hear they even have webcams in the classes!

As for appointments, it depends exactly when you are arriving. The school administration will be closed for much of the Xmas/New Year break, but if you make contact in advance they ought to be able to accommodate you. However, it would be preferable from your point of view to visit the school when it is open, and observe it in action, as Scandall suggests.
 

paulinehh

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prices

Keith R said:

Its great to see all those interesting schools and their websites and i am looking forward to pick a good one for my child.
The only thing are the prices, which they dont tell in the websites.
Can anybody give me the anual prices for the schools mentioned??
i am fine if you can have me a general idea, more or less.
like i understood the st george is 150.000 pesos a year? and C Morgan even more? what about the others?
 

Cronin_Andrea

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Aug 25, 2005
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Private Schools

Anyone know of a New Horizon's quality school in Santiago or the North Coast?

That school looks better than most American public schools to me from the website.

Thanks,

-Mike
 

Cronin_Andrea

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Cronin_Andrea said:
Anyone know of a New Horizon's quality school in Santiago or the North Coast?

That school looks better than most American public schools to me from the website.

Thanks,

-Mike


Sorry, I see that New Horizons also has a Santiago location but they require their students to be bilingual for entrance. New question I suppose. Anyone know of a similar quality school that will accept my twins without Spanish language skill?
 

arturo

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never judge a school by its website, especially not in the DR

Cronin_Andrea said:
Sorry, I see that New Horizons also has a Santiago location but they require their students to be bilingual for entrance. New question I suppose. Anyone know of a similar quality school that will accept my twins without Spanish language skill?


I encourage you to investigate what I am about to tell you on your own, either personally or by asking for the opinions of peoplel you know and trust.

New Horizons is the only bilingual school in the country that places academics above appearances, politics, and money. All the others (and I speak from some experience but you should get other opinions) place academics in a secondary or lower position with respect to other considerations.

To put it another way, if a student does not complete academic requirement and perform to established standards, he or she will fail and will not be promoted or allowed to graduate. Other schools have this rule but they bend it according to the perceived "importance" of the student's family.

I would be surprised to see the experienced teachers here contradict that but, as I say, you should get other opinions.
 

RHM

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arturo said:
New Horizons is the only bilingual school in the country that places academics above appearances, politics, and money.QUOTE]


I could not disagree with you more on this one. And I also speak from experience. There is no need to debate it...that's not what the thread is about. And I probably wouldn't have this particular debate in a public forum anyway.

But opinions will always vary. People should do their own research and make their own decisions. Choosing a school for your kids is a personal decision and MANY of the schools in SD are "style over substance".

Scandall
 

Maryposa

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May 6, 2005
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My recommendation

We?re also Dutch and we?ve lived in Santo Domingo from 2001-2005. We were recently transferred to Canada.
Our three kids, went to the Community for Learning from 2002 until 2005 and it?s been the best experience! It is not an upper-class-school but middle-class school so, besides the relatively acceptable fee, your kid will not be confronted too much with the filthy rich spoiled kids you?ll likely to find in Carol Morgan School. (I know, the first year they went to this school and I had them transferred to the Community for Learning as soon as I could).
The CFL has an excellent bi-lingual program (Spanish/ English). The program is pretty strong; to give you an example: the Canadian system seems behind the current level of our kids. Our 6th grader (12 years old) has been assessed here and has skipped a class to grade 8th. He?s still way above average in his class?
The Community for Learning just moved their school to a new location and their ambition is to apply for IB!
You won't find the Community for Learning on many websites: they apparently do not need the advertisement. Their reputation is excellent!

They do have a website. Please check it:
http://www.tcforlearning.edu.do/index.htm

Nice to hear the DR is attracting some more Dutch; many Dutch have recently left the Island. Has anyone ever mentioned the Dutch Association in the DR to you? Take a look at the (a little bit outdated website).
http://www.nvdr.com.do/

Good luck with everything,
Moving can be hard, but it can be worthwhile!

Mariposa
www.broekhuijsen.info
 

nebraskamom

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info on new horizons in santiago

my kids have just started in new horizons in santiago this september. they did not have any previous spanish experience (coming from nebraska!). they are in 3rd grade, 4th grade, and pre-kinder. Each found a few other students with enough english to be comfortable socially. They do have to take extra spanish tutoring after school a few days a week for an additional charge. Be prepared for the students here to be a little "higher energy" than in traditional schools (not as much classroom discipline as we were used to.) My kids have science, social studies, reading, and english in english and math, geometry, spanish, social studies, character development, computer science, music, physical education, and civics in spanish. Each has 15-1 student teacher ratio. The verdict is still out on whether it is more substance than window dressing because they are moving to a new facility next year a little further out in Santiago so the current facility isn't near what the website (based on the santo domingo school) purports. the fee is around $3000US per year per kid. We looked at other schools in santiago but felt this was the most likely to work for us. I'll let you know in a year if we were right or not! ;)