Primary School for American Kids?

[saun-mom]

HI- great info on these posts!
We're considering a move to HK this summer, (we'll know within a couple of weeks) and I'm concerned about getting my kids in a school on such short notice. All the postings about waitlists have me very nervous. Is it really as bad as it seems? Do we have a chance? We're considering the move because it could be an amazing experience for all of us, including the kids- but if school will be impossible...

We have a first and second grader, and are considering Discovery Bay (mostly because of the lower priced/ bigger apartments). My husband's office will be at HKU.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[flyboy]

School for American kids

Hi,

What age are your kids? Elementary school here in HK ends at grade 6. Secondary starts at 7th grade.

I am the principal of a secondary school in Clearwater Bay. We are a new school, small, and a Christian school and currently have 40 spaces available for grades 9-12 (Form 3-6) for the 2008-2009 school year.

There will be a primary section and the projected start date is 08-09, but there there was talk of postponing this until 09-10. But if you live in Discovery Bay we wouldn't be an option for you as we are a long way from there. The secondary has boarding facilities and a 5-day boarding program, but will *not* take 7-8 grade boarding students... too young to be boarding.

We are NOT an international school, but we do have mostly American teachers and run both an American curriculum (with a sister school in Maryland granting the diploma) and a local HK diploma, students can choose. All of our students right now are in the American curriculum.

Anyway, if you are interested in the primary you can let me know and I will put you in touch with the principal of that section. It also will be staffed and administered by mostly Americans or native English speakers. They will be 70% English instruction and 30% Mandarin instruction. The secondary will be 100% English instruction.

Secondary website is: hongkongsda.org

Best,
Kris

 

[rani]

HKU is in Pok Fu Lam. Are you sure you wouldn't want to live in the area? Apts are more or less in the same price range as DB. One of my neighbors actually got tired of the commute from DB and moved to Pok Fu Lam last year.