The first time we visited ISK, we loved the open air and spaciousness of the school. We were greeted by the acting-Director and vice-Principle at the time, and they were very helpful, friendly, and assured us that the school was a very close-family unit, with small classes (maximum 16 children), and the children's education and well-being were their top priority! Both have since left the school.
Based on their sales pitch, my husband and I chose ISK for our children, and judging by the school's philosophy below, we had no reason to doubt.
"Instruction is geared to the individual needs of the student.
We set the highest standards for each of our students at his or her stage of development, and foster achievement through a rich variety of teaching styles and methods matched to his or her needs.
We also aim to identify the special talents of each of our students and to provide challenging educational programs to encourage the widest development of these talents.
To enhance this, we encourage continuous dialogue among students, teachers, administration and parents."Up until the middle of 2012 school year, we were quite happy with the school because our children appeared happy. But when our son started complaining that the class work was boring and too easy, I decided to do my own assessment at home. I was surprise to find that he was highly advanced in Maths and above grade level for Language. We approached the school to see what they thought and was disappointed to hear that there were no adequate assessment tools to test if a student is advanced for their age. Instead, we were recommended to visit a psychologist in Warsaw. We were even more shocked to hear that his previous teacher reported to the Special Needs Coordinator that he was highly advanced, but nothing was done about it. And even worse, we were never informed!
Had one of the teachers followed up on his advanced development, his potential would not have been wasted for 1.5 years. And had I not assessed him at home myself, nothing would have been done to meet his needs at school.
This year, my daughter scored an average of 96% in three of her unit tests and she was surprised that she only received "Meeting Expectations" in her report card. When we asked how the grades were determined, we got some round-about answers that not only didn't make any sense, but contradictory. As part of the explanation we received, we learnt that the Head of Elementary reviews the report cards but only looks for "red flags", which as he explained are children who are graded as "Not Meeting Expectations" or "Approaching". I guess this explained why my son was not identified as a "red flag" because he was graded as "Exceeding Expectations" and therefore, disregarded.
Now, I understand that it could be argued that ISK is a small international school with limited resources and cannot cater for every student individually. However, my point is if ISK publishes a philosophy that states, "We also aim to identify the special talents of each of our students and to provide challenging educational programs to encourage the widest development of these talents", then I expect them to live up to it. Otherwise, don't publish statements that mislead parents into believing that the school is able to provide something that it cannot.
Based on the experiences with my own children and what other parents have told me, I can only conclude that ISK is currently not equipped to handle students that are advanced. This is one of the reasons why we are unhappy and feel that we've been misled.
Your thoughts?
PS. I understand that not everyone has a Google+ account. However, if you want to leave a comment as Anonymous, then I encourage you to sign off with your name so that it's easier to have meaningful discussions.
5 comments:
Hi Lucy,
I strongly disagree with your comment about the school misleading parents.
You believe the school does not cater to advanced students. I actually thinks that the school is too geared towards those advanced students.
For example, I don't understand the purpose of teaching fractions to students in grade 2. Nevertheless, I happen to think that me not understanding does not mean it should not happen. I should probably tried to adapt myself.
I also know that in each of the classes of my kids there are groups based on levels either in maths or in reading and often writing. I also know that the composition of these groups changes over the school year.
It is hard to accept your assertion that the school misleads parents when it says it adapts to children strengths and weaknesses.
Comment #4
Gifted and Special Needs Children
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This is an interesting topic worthy of discussion. Anyone who has seen Lucy’s kids on stage at Song Quest knows that she has exceptionally talented kids !!!
As a former Board member, John keenly recalls discussions about the challenges ISK faces as a relatively small school and limited staff. It is indeed a challenge to handle ‘special needs’ kids on both ends of the spectrum.
Based on our own experiences as a professional educator and a former Board member, we feel there are no easy answers here. We would suggest that the ISK Board organize an open session to discuss this specific topic – inviting all interested parents. Lucy, we hope you will come and share your experiences and ideas.
If it is a challenge for ISK to handle 'over achievers' why do they charge such high fees? Do we not pay for our childrens education so that they get a better education? There are school's in Poland that have lower fees and also have the resources.
Serge, I do not agree that teaching a grade 2 student the difference between "half" an apple versus "a quarter" of an apple is considered as "advanced". These are 7 years old children and dealing with these simple fractions is already a part of their daily lives. My point is that when a child has already "mastered" the simple fractions, the school is unwilling to teach them further. Instead, those students are forced to continue doing the basic fractions, which results in them being bored. Regarding splitting the children into groups, it is a method widely used by some teachers, however, simply grouping students doesn't necessarily mean that their needs are met. What is important is the effectiveness of the school's planning and programming, so that teachers can better differentiate and personalize their instructions to meet the needs of individual students. Based on experiences with my children, the school needs to dramatically improve this area.
My child is not gifted with a special talent- and I do not want to attend him a school for advanced children for many reasons.
This school is in my opinion just a "regular" school, getting kids from all over the world, because the parents are changing countries because of their work.
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