Hong Kong International School

tea007

I am planning to apply for my son's admission to reception class in an international school.  Does any one know anything about the HKIS (in Repulse Bay / Tai Tam)?  Grateful if you could share your experience (Is it a good school, how is its admission test like, etc).  Thanks.

bigheadcat

好唔好我不大肯定,但應該不是最好嗰幾間,EDISON 和RACHEL(明星)讀呢間.

tea007

Many thanks.  Other than some 明星讀, does any one know anything about HKIS?  Thanks.

Cayenne

My son joined HKIS in high school ( Tai Tam campus ), so I am sorry I cannot help you with  the reception class application .

There have been much misconception and hearsay about international schools. I'll only concentrate on HKIS.
HKIS is the de facto American International School in HK. Her  head of school was once the American Consul General in HK, and one of the American Consul General in HK was once a HKIS student . The school is run by an American  Lutheran Church , and follows the American Curriculum with most graduates pursuing further studies in US Universities . Top students are regularly accepted to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT,Columbia etc. Some  graduates stay local for Medicine and Law in HKU, while one 2005 graduate was accepted by CU but goes to LSE (London School of Economics) for Actuarial Studies.

If I may give my humble opinion , I think HKIS is among the very best, if not THE best, of any secondary institution iin HK. Its campus is gorgeous, its resources awesome. It has to be seen to be believed . Its staff & student populations are truly international ( US  , Japanese , Korean, UK, Russian, Canadian , Indian  etc, totalling more than 40 different countries) , unlike many so-called 'international schools' . Its has among its teaching staff some of the most qualified you can find. Where else can you find a Harvard graduate teaching Mandarin in HK ? Mind you, he's a qwai-lo but speaks Mandarin with a flawless native Beijing accent.

Now I know I seem like a promotion officer, but I'm just a parent of a recent graduate , and I have to talk about something  PR officers won't touch upon.

No school is perfect . HKIS is like an expensive buffet dinner in a 5-star hotel. If you choose your food carefully, you'll have a wonderful experience. But if you just  indulge  in the oyster, or the curry, you'll end up with a painful stomach.

The 'curry & oyster' in any international school , HKIS included, is that it's atmosphere is free, thus demands a lot of self-discipline from the students. Eg: HKIS does not require its high school students to wear  school uniforms, so a student can spend all day shopping and thinking about  which  Gucci or Prada he/she should wear to school tomorrow. Well, he's  just wasting his  precious time and that's his own fault. ( Actually, wealth -flaunting is not a habit of HKIS students ).

Most outsiders think that the school work is lax, and that's another misconception. In high school, the students can choose different courses of  the same subject according to their own abilities. Thus the best and most hardworking students can choose the most difficult and  advanced courses (= Year I university level ) right from the start, while the average student can work their own way up at a more leisurely pace. Most students workhard, setting their sights on the Ivies, some 'work hard play hard', while a small percentage of students prefer to dance their way into the limelight :

Mention HKIS students,and most people can only think of  Nicholas Tse / Edison Chan. In fact they  are hardly the archetype . Personally I welcome their likes because they add diversity  to the school. That's what make the school so colorful. Just like  Mick Jagger of The  Rolling Stones . He was a LSE graduate too.

Most schools have a drug problem though most prefer not to mention it.  With students coming  from vastly different countries, HKIS is hardly immune to this plague, though it's limited to within a small circle of students. HKIS takes a very serious stand on drug abuse, to the extent that parents are required to sign a form authorizing the school to cut some bits of your son's hair for random drug tests. Help are offered to the offenders . Repeated offenders are outsed. I admire HKIS's pro-active, pragmatic attitude. It's better to help than to hide.

Parents who take a pro-active attitude towards their children's education, and are willing to instill self-discipline on them, will be greatly rewarded in HKIS.

alexlui

Your description about HKIS is such an eye-opener for me, would you mind telling me something about Shatin Junior School and Shatin College?

Regards.

Cayenne

alexlui 寫道:
Your description about HKIS is such an eye-opener for me, would you mind telling me something about Shatin Junior School and Shatin College?
Regards.

Well I am afraid  my trumpeting piece is more like an eyesore than an eyeopener for anyone.
Anyway my knowledge of SJS & SC is only second hand , and even if our gracious host allows  us to highjack her post,  we'd better hear anything about SJS/SC from the horse's mouth  
  

tea007

Many thanks, Cayenne.  Your information and views are very useful.  Before this, there does not seem to be too much discussion about HKIS in this forum.

I would also be most grateful if any other parent can share some experience about the primary school / reception classes of HKIS.  Thanks.

Vrindavan

Wow  

Cayenne

CherylMum 寫道:
Hi Cayenne,
You mentioned that some graduates are admitted by HKU/CU.  Does HKIS run IB and so the students can use IB results to apply to these local universities?

Most HKIS graduates will study aboard but a few will stay local , mainly for the professional degrees.
These graduates apply via the non-Jupas route using their SAT and AP (Advanced Placement ) exam results. Of course, they have to be very good.

The graduate who entered HKU Medic was in fact also accepted by Yale , and received a full scholarship offer from another top US university too.

One girl entered HKU Law. Law acceptance depends  much on the Interview performance , apart from  the usual good academic scores. HKIS encourages her students to think and express their views ,thus prepares the students well for such scenarios.

One boy was accepted by CU in HK , LSE in the UK and Waterloo in Canada. He chose LSE.

There was  at least one HKUST acceptance in the 2005 class , but whether the student finally took the offer, I don't know.

Taiman98

I agree HKIS is one of the best international school in HK. But it is so hard to get in & pay so much for the school fee or debentures.

    

Vrindavan

i heard one parent who don't like their Christian background

Cayenne

Vrindavan 寫道:
i heard one parent who don't like their Christian background

That's interesting . I wonder if there's any other  parent sharing  this same opinion    Is that parent a Muslim / Hindu by any chance ?
True, HKIS students have to take Religious Studies with topics like " Who's Jesus ? ". I regard it more as a cultural study and a preparatory course for students to study overseas , which will arguably be a western, predominantly Christian enviornment .
Other than this RS course , there is nothing in HKIS that should bother a non-Christian student -- unless he insists  in calling on God in every swear and curse   he makes.         

Vrindavan

That expatriate does not have any religion

Yannass

How much is the school fee of HKIS Primary and Secondary School?

Cayenne

Yannass 寫道:
How much is the school fee of HKIS Primary and Secondary School?

http://dnet.hkis.edu.hk/admissions/images/stories/dmdocuments/schoolfees05_06.pdf



  

Xiatian

thank you

Cayenne 寫道:
[quote]
Yannass 寫道:
How much is the school fee of HKIS Primary and Secondary School?

http://dnet.hkis.edu.hk/admissions/images/stories/dmdocuments/schoolfees05_06.pdf



   [/quote]

3littlepigs

thx

summer123

thanks

mfkhung

Hi Cayenne,

Thanks for your sharing. My son is 10 years old studying at a local school P5. I am considering to send him to an international middle school.

Since we don't know anybody studying at the HK International School so I hope you don't mind to share more with us.

According to the school info, for those students who are not using English as their first language are required to take a test. Do you have any idea about that? How often do they have the Chinese Language lessons?

Thanks