Schools with Best Mix of International Students

[jbiersteker]

My wife and I taught at Seoul International School, and though we loved the school and the students, we know that non-Korean students did have a rougher go of it. Many of the schools that I have been looking at seem to have an international curriculum, but a local school population. We are not so sure that will be the best situation for our own kids. What would people rank as the best schools as far as having a mix of students from around the world?

Thanks!!

[mysharona]

From my experience you should look at smaller schools in countries with a large presence of international NGOs, like Bangladesh. I think you are wise to be taking classroom mix into account for your kids' sake. Having worked in both types of schools with my own children enrolled I know it can be a tough go.

[Mike]

Many folks don't like the Middle East BUT we have 70 different nationalities at our school here in Doha. 20% American is the largest group....

My own kids LOVE it here..... We will stay here until they graduate.

[seashell]

I think most of the Singapore Int'l schools have a good mix. When I was at OFS I had 12-15 different nationalities in my room each year.

[inman]

UAE and Qatar are great from having so many nationalities in 1 school. At even an average international in Dubai or Abu Dhabi you can have a class of 20 -25 kids from at the very least 10 nationalities, but usually you will mostly find more than that. I understand that Doha is very similar. A lot of people don't have a lot of positive things to say about the middle east but the UAE and Qatar are hardly hardship postings. I think the schools are a great place for kids to grow up.

[inman]

jbiersteker, did you get the impression that a lot of the schools in korea had mostly local students, or was it just your school? I think it would be very tough for a child moving overseas to be in an environment that was 99% local.

[teacherguy]

I agree with mysharona. I taught at the Uruguayan American School. Because it was the only American school in Montevideo, most diplomats, military types, and expat business people sent their children there. The school was 50% Uruguayan and 50% expat. A good mix of kids. (Most "traditional" wealthy Uruguayans send their children to the British school, so those that went to the American school tended to come from more outward looking families.)

I've found that almost every country has one truly "international" school. I look at the school by-laws and makeup of the school board. If a position on the board is reserved for a US embassy employee designated by the ambassador, odds are good that's the school that's going to have the most expat children.

[jbiersteker]

Hi Inman,

I think Korea was unique...obviously there is the very real threat from the North and thus my experience was that SIS was made up of Koreans who were wealthy enough to have babies in the US, get the passport, and then spend the rest of their lives growing up in Korea. My experience with coaching soccer was that this was the case at most of the international schools, with maybe SFS being an exception (along with the US army schools). Again, they were great to teach, but it would be hard for non-Korean kids, and thus were are looking for a real International school.

[PsyGuy]

I typically find that the elite or top tier school in a region or location, has the best mix of nationalities. As you go down to the lower tiers, you see more and more local students. In these cases the school aren't really ISs but private/independent schools.

[wntriscoming]

The other thing that I find is that a lot of the schools say, "35% American," "15% Canadian," but the students really aren't culturally American. By that, I mean that their ABC or CBC, or ABK, or whatever other acronym you have out there. A lot of kids have been living outside of the States/Canada their entire lives. So you go to these schools thinking you have a great diversity of students and in actuality you don't.

It's not really a "problem," but something to be aware of. I'm in total agreement with teacherguy--look at the school board information as well as if they're connected to any embassies, consulates, or NGO organizations. At an interview, ask if students' parents come from government connections or businesses/management.

[seinfeld]

Yes, Singapore IS have a great mix due to work demographic of parents and that Singaporean nationals aren't "allowed" to enrol in an IS. Or something like that.

[expatteacher99]

[quote="wntriscoming"]The other thing that I find is that a lot of the schools say, "35% American," "15% Canadian," but the students really aren't culturally American. By that, I mean that their ABC or CBC, or ABK, or whatever other acronym you have out there. A lot of kids have been living outside of the States/Canada their entire lives. So you go to these schools thinking you have a great diversity of students and in actuality you don't.
quote]

Yep, and another practice that can lessen a school's diversity is when a school uses only the father's nationality when calculating statistics. I have worked in cities where a lot of western men married local women. Children were born in the mother's country, grew up speaking that language, and have basically no cultural connection with the father's western country...but the students are still admitted as foreigners. That can make schools appear to be more diverse than they really are. Again, like you said, not necessarily a problem, but something to be aware of.