ISF Pre-school new campus

bbblivehappily

Has anyone been to the new ISF Pre-School campus on Belcher's Street? How does the space / facilities compare to the old campus, and is there much smell from the new renovation / paint? Thanks!

cris01

回覆 bbblivehappily 的帖子

We got the ISF K offer too and have the same question? Heard the current parents were upset the school didn't respond to their concern on this as well. The new campus is only around 10% bigger than the old campus. The classrooms are still very small and not much space for the kids to do gym activities. The new campus is right on the side of a main road, so there were concern about the child's safety crossing the road with fast moving cars everyday. We are quite concerned on this too, so might stay at the current school or go for another offer....quite a headache..

kytso

cris01 發表於 20-4-8 18:48
回覆 bbblivehappily 的帖子

We got the ISF K offer too and have the same question? Heard the current ...

What is the reason of relocation?  Did the school explain?

cris01

kytso 發表於 20-4-8 19:31
What is the reason of relocation?  Did the school explain?

I heard because the old campus lease expired so they had to find a new campus. Also they added more student intake so need a larger campus.

candybar123

The old campus was very small so just 10% increase..

hkfung0420

bbblivehappily 發表於 20-3-30 13:17
Has anyone been to the new ISF Pre-School campus on Belcher's Street? How does the space / facilitie ...

Although the new campus had not yet open to parents/kids after CNY due to the virus (new campus originally started after CNY), I have been to the reception area and there was no smell at all. The principle also emphasized to all parents that they used green materials and engaged qualified vendors to make sure the air quality is fine. I trust school on those.
The school bus drop off point is a concern but so far no more recent experience as no school started in this new campus.

cris01

hkfung0420 發表於 20-4-9 05:10
Although the new campus had not yet open to parents/kids after CNY due to the virus (new campus ori ...

Thanks for sharing! So you haven’t managed to get inside the whole campus yet? I heard the principal is not willing to release air quality reports when many of the concerned parents asked? Or will they release it later? Oh so it’s true the road problem was a major concern...mmm I will have to look into that. Safety is the #1 priority. Do you know how they will solve the crossing road situation? Thanks

hkfung0420

cris01 發表於 20-4-9 08:57
Thanks for sharing! So you haven’t managed to get inside the whole campus yet? I heard the princip ...

Right, not sure if any other parents managed to get in, but the campus hadn’t got chance to open to kids/parents yet. Re the traffic, they said they will assign more adults (ard 4) for each school bus to take kids crossing the road. Some parents will have helpers to take kids to school instead, the new site is close to mtr station. But I don’t know if the school will have any other solutions later on after the school is open, I believe the school had received the same concerns from the existing parents....

thirdculture

No one has been to the new campus yet since it opened after schools closed with the coronavirus. So while many parents had concerns initially about the smell of the paint and new furniture, I think all of that is moot now since schools have been closed for so long.

Regarding the inside of the school, by all accounts it looks fantastic! New teaching apparatus and furniture, cool climbing equipment with a tunnel going through the inside of the school and a big slide out of the tunnel, and modern ways of structuring the learning space. My kid and I are both quite sad that he likely won’t experience it since kindergarten is unlikely to resume the rest of the school year.

bbblivehappily

回覆 hkfung0420 的帖子

Many thanks for all your great sharing and information!
I heard the place is a fully enclosed space and does not have much windows (apart from rooftop), so I'm just a little concerned how effective the "airing" of the renovation/paint smell would be. But hopefully by the time school starts in September all the "newness" smell would have cleared! I trust the school will do its best in this area. Also good to hear that they are using "green" paint, so it seems like they have been focusing on this area from early on.

Thanks for sharing again!

bbblivehappily

回覆 cris01 的帖子

Hi Cris, did you end up taking the ISF K offer? All the best either way!

cris01

bbblivehappily 發表於 20-4-23 11:57
回覆 cris01 的帖子

Hi Cris, did you end up taking the ISF K offer? All the best either way!

Hi! I ended up dropping the offer. I asked a lot of existing and ex parents about ISF. You’re right the new campus doesn’t have much windows and space is very small. The crossing road everyday may be too dangerous. Principal Tammy only says it’s “Green paint” but when parents ask her to show the air quality report, she refused..there were too many complaints about her. Also I was just afraid I will have to switch out of ISF after a few years like many of the students, it’s too much work..haha I know truly ISF is just the same as a local school, so we decided to go for a more well established intl school. I also had a few friends that drop the ISF offer too. Good luck to you with the offers too :)!

kytso

cris01 發表於 20-4-24 09:29
Hi! I ended up dropping the offer. I asked a lot of existing and ex parents about ISF. You’re righ ...

May I ask why students need to cross the road to school?  You mean the school bus could not park on the side of the road where the school is located?  It is a one way road as I recall, so I presume school bus could park either side?

cris01

kytso 發表於 20-4-24 12:08
May I ask why students need to cross the road to school?  You mean the school bus could not park on ...

Correct. It’s a one way fast moving car street and the school is on the other side of the road. So kids must cross the roads everyday and school bus doors will open facing the road. I went to look at the campus and street, it’s quite dangerous to me. Also the surroundings around the campus is not so good, random shops and kids will have to walk on the narrow street pavements as the campus is oddly located in the middle of the street. The campus building feels more like a tutorial center and not much of a school...I wanted to find a larger and warm campus for my child, a more “proper” school.