Any HKA parents out there???

[Meech]

Hi everyone,

I've posted once before when we first started our search, and now we are down to the wire...

We've received acceptance to: HKIS and HKA for our soon-to-be Kindergartener (really liked CDNIS too but I'm still in the U.S. and am not up for flying my 2.5 year old and 4.5 year old over for in-person interviews ).

I've heard a lot of feedback regarding HKIS (both very positive and very negative) from parents who have had their children attend there. However, I'm interested in hearing from any current/former HKA parents...would love any feedback you could provide, as I'm making this decision from overseas!

Thanks in advance - I really appreciate it.

 

[sea princess]

schools

Hi
We were in a similiar sitatuation to yourself, but arrived and were accepted to HKA, CDNIS, FIS and had to chose one.
I have friends who teach and send their children to HKA which gave me great insight into the school. They raved about it. I couldnt get my head around the facilities. Our daughter was just four and even the toilets were up flights of stairs and were ghastly!

They then announced their move to Sai Kung which would occur in 3 years and I thought no way as we had settled southside of HK island and were happy. So it was easy to turn down the offer in the end. If you are here short term this school might work for you if you are island based, or longer terms if you are going to the New Terrortories. I know a lot of American children there, especially those from familiaes who want the religious component of education removed from ther childs schooling. There are also a lot of British and Australian and New Zealanders. Not too many Cantonese children though which I thought was a shame.

I now hear (but hopefully someone can confirm) they are moving to a temporary facility in Kennedy Town. This would have been a very long bus ride for our child every day so I am glad we chose differently. But it does get you away from the Stubbs road site which is by theway, a construction zone and plain dangerous in my opinion.

We chose FIS in the end. For us, it had a balance of ethnicities, academia, social/play that was a happy medium and the location and facilities there are good. It's also well priced. CDNIS was amazing and we loved the feel of the school, but I dont think it gave a very good cross section of ethnicities. And this has been a criticism of the school over the past few years

I have two friends that have their kids in at HKIS. Their children are vry happy and settled. I would say though (only from what they have told me) it's not overly academic, more play based in the early years which suits some kids and not others.

Good luck in your decision making.

 

[snagito]

Which session has your 4.5 year old been accepted into at HKIS? Is it the half day or the full day at R1. From R2 kids go in at 8 am so you need to factor that in to your decision making since you may need to move closer to the school as otherwise he or she may be on a school bus from 6.40 am which is a little early..

I've heard great things about both schools - HKA is definitely going to Kennedy Town for 3 years and the site is apparently quite good, but yes, they are a school in transition to Sai Kung so depends where you are planning to live in the end as that will be important. On the positive for HKA which I think is a really fantastic school - they have a K3 class which your 2.5 yr old might be eligible to attend starting August 2011 - then both your kids will be at the same school which adds to the convenience factor - so you could live in Pokfulam or Midlevels and have both children close by for at least 3 years before the school heads to Sai Kung in 2013. If you are thinking within that time frame then I'd go for HKA!

Hope that helps.

 

[Meech]

Hi seaprincess and snagito,

Thanks so much for posting in such detail. I really appreciate you both taking the time to do so.

seaprincess - The distance to the schools is one of my main concerns. My daughter is just turning 5 towards the end of August - I can't imagine putting her on a bus for 30 minutes one way to school every morning. My husband has been living in Stanley since January. His opinion is that the Stanley/Tai Tam area is a much better lifestyle choice for us with young children and, unless I can make a strong argument against it, he would like to stay there. He is not interested in living in PokFuLam or MidLevels to be closer to HKA, although I've suggested it - I'm up for living near whatever schools the girls end up attending - he feels strongly about living somewhere that he deems very conducive to families with young kids. I've only visited Hong Kong years ago when we were young and childless...so from where I sit I don't have much ammunition!

With that said, I am nervous about the trip for my soon-to-be 5-year-old from the south side of the island up to Kennedy Town if we do enroll her in HKA. HKIS seems to be the simpler choice for us as she would be closer so I would be more comfortable about that. However, I've heard from several parents that the academics are somewhat lacking there, even at the young ages - that many kids miss school quite frequently so a lot of time is spent catching up during class time whereas the kids that don't miss frequently are doing a lot of repeat work. Honestly, my head is spinning with the stories that I'm hearing and it's difficult to separate the wheat from the shaft, so to speak. My daughter is in a gifted pre-school now - it's a warm and encouraging environment, nothing high pressure at all, but a wonderful environment for an extremely inquisitive child of her age and abilities...she is engaged, happy, silly and looks forward to going to school every day...and soaking up new info like a sponge. I am nervous about HKIS in this regard...so many posts say that it is too focused on play. I do think play is crucial at young ages, but I also know what kids these ages are capable of. If we are only there the planned 2 to 4 years, I don't want her to come back and be academically behind her peers in the US, especially since where she is now is about a year ahead.

snagito - I think my daughter is in the R2 class so it's full day, correct? I can't keep the schools straight! I'm not sure what the schedule is.

On another note, I also have a bit of apprehension about the religious aspect of HKIS. I've read/heard stories from both the positive and negative sides. When I questioned the school about what was taught to the primary school kids regarding religion, the answer I received was "age appropriate bible stories". I'm not anti-religious (we're Catholic) but I also would like a better idea of what exactly is being taught to my child...she's 4, not 14.

UGH! Will the school choice fairy just show up already and give me the right answer? LOL.

Thanks again for both of your input! If anyone else wants to weigh in, it's welcome.