British International School

Someone from Atlantic International School?

Hi tokyoMoscow,

I hope you get responses very soon.

I wish you good luck
Christine

Hi Tokyomoscow, I live in the south of Moscow  on Leninsky Prospect and can recommend a school in this area.http://saasmar.ru/. I know some parents whose children are here and have done some work with the school in a presenting/teaching capacity. The school director is Tatiana Yurovskia and speaks very good English. I am not a parent myself but it may be a good option for your older children and Tatiana can give you some advice about schools in the area, I am sure. Email her directly  - [email protected]. Good luck, Hugh

It's a common question for families coming to Moscow... which school? Unfortunately, there seem to be some people in Moscow with bitterness issues and they make inaccurate comments. Opinions are fine of course, but factual inaccuracies aren't. 


Which is the best school for your expat children here in Moscow? This is like asking how long is a good piece of string. There is no one simple answer.

As your child's parent it is your responsibility to ensure your child is educated in the best way possible. However, the best education for your child may be very different to the best education for another child. Some children do best in school and some do best when schooled at home. Some flourish by being schooled in Moscow, and some would do better to be schooled in their home country.

There is a wide range of schooling options in Moscow and it's best to consider these options before committing to life in Moscow, rather than after. This leaves the option of not coming to Moscow. It does seem that some people come to Moscow expecting, even demanding, similar education / schooling as is available ‘back home'.

An embassy is unlikely to recommend a school. Indeed, most embassies go out of their way to make sure they do not recommend anything – whether it is a lawyer, medical clinic, or school. Advice and opinions about schools from other people has to be considered with care. There can't possibly be an expert on all schools in Moscow. There can't be anyone more expert about your child than his or her parents.

Choosing a school is similar to buying a house. There are many criteria to consider and some are more important than others. What is important to one person and their child might be different for another person. And just like when you're buying a house, some of the questions are easier to get answers to than others, and some you simply can't ever get answers to.

Here are some considerations when choosing which school is best for your child…

What will the child be taught in school? This is usually called the school's curriculum – the collection of subjects / topics at the many levels within the school. The UK has a national curriculum that is the same for all schools – with some scope for change on a local basis. There is no US national curriculum. US schools create their own curriculum.

How are children with special needs taught? Are they taken out of main classes or are the teachers able to address these needs within the main classroom setting?

What are the school's examination results like? But beware: statistics can be fudged. And just because a school achieved good examination results last year, doesn't mean they will next year. And if the school's results are excellent, will your child also achieve excellent results? Which leads on to universities and university applications. The whole ‘which is the best university for my son / daughter?' is a similarly complex and individualised question so let's leave that discussion for later. Does the school help students research and apply to universities, or are they on their own. Does the school favour applications to just USA, or do they have experience and understanding of university applications procedures for Russian, Australia, Canada, France etc.?

The teachers' genders, ages, qualifications, experience, nationality etc. matter to some people, and not to others. One of the great benefits of being taught in an international school is human diversity: students and teachers.

The school's physical facilities are important; more important for some people than others. If it's important that your child's school has nice curtains or a ceramic kiln then good. But before you get too excited about ambient lighting and underfloor heating, consider this: some people think schools are a group of people, a community of leaders, administrators, support staff, parents… and children. Others think schools are buildings.

Accreditation by inspectorates is a load of porridge. These inspections are like ISO inspections. A school can dress up for a day, churn out documents in pretty folders and wow some inspectors. Truly, a certificate from Bob's Good School Inspectorate is as valuable as the paper it's written on.

School uniform, cafeteria facilities and menu, health-clinic, security guards and systems… these things are important for some people and not for others.

How much are the fees? Are there any more fees for field trips, books, bus services etc.? Here's my opinion about fees: it's only money. If you're an expat in Moscow, you're probably here for the money. Spend it on your children. 

You surely don't want your child traveling over an hour to school each morning. I suggest you find your child's school first, and then your apartment. 

Talk with your child about what he or she wants from school. Then take your child and visit the possible schools – all of them. Meet with the head teacher / principal and ask your questions. Listen to the answers. Look around the school. Feel the school. Then ask your son or daughter what he or she thinks – and listen carefully. 

What does a good school feel like? The head teacher is open and honest and not behaving like a second-hand car salesman telling you everything you want to hear and making outrageous promises. Teachers and students are interacting respectfully, positively, and enthusiastically. Small classes of students are on-task and there is evidence of positive, modern learning. But these are my opinions, reflecting my values. You have to think about what is important for you, and what is best for your child.

Don't go to schools assuming they are desperate for enrolments. Whether a school is for-profit or not-for-profit, it still uses its revenue to run the school, pay teachers' salaries, buy books etc. More students means more revenue. But all good school managers understand that one bad apple can spoil a whole lot of good ones. An enrolment interview is a two-way discussion. While you as a parent have just one child's education at heart, the good school manager will have all the students' educations at heart. The school manager will be considering whether this student will have a good or bad effect on the existing school community.

Don't enrol your child in a school that isn't right for your child and then spend the rest of your time complaining that the school isn't right for your child. It would be silly to enrol your artistic child into a school with no art class and then spend the next 3 years whining about there being no art lessons. Similarly, don't enrol your child in an English-language school if the teachers can't write English correctly.

It's very child-like for anyone to say that all BIS schools are excellent because they teach to a national curriculum, or that the AAS is bad because it's owned by the US, UK and Canadian embassies, or that the ISM and the EIS is bad, or good, or that School 54 at Krasnaya Ploschad is the best. They're all good for some students but no school is good for all students. To muddy the waters further, what was a good school last year may not be next year.

And finally, if there is still time, please consider whether bringing your child to Moscow is best for him or her. You'll only get one chance to make the right decision about your children's education. The most valuable thing you can spend on your children isn't your money, it's your time.

I'm happy to receive private messages on this topic.

Welcome on Expat.com RudyardKipling

Interesting analysis ...

Hi Tokyo Moscow and Others,
I conducted a small interview with the very helpful ISM Admissions officer, Lucy Kenyon, for our blog. You can see it here: Introduction to ISM

I'm not as familiar with BIS.
In addition, you can see a map of all international schools in Moscow here: http://athomenetwork.blogspot.com/2010/ … hools.html

Good luck!
Lindsay

I will place the article here as well...

Inside Look: International School of Moscow

In order to assist our clients with the settling in process, we're providing an inside look at international schools in Central Europe. The International School of Moscow is a British school in a protected national park. Lucy Kenyon, admissions officer at ISM, introduces the school. Read on to learn more about ISM.


Quick facts:

Students Enrolled for 2010/2011 school year: 300
Years: Ages 2 – 13 and growing
Selected Programs: English National Curriculum, including drama, music, art, football, golf, bowling, film-making, crafts
Foreign language classes: Russian, French, Dutch  (a registered Dutch school operates on the premises after school on Mondays)

The gracious and helpful Lucy Kenyon, Admissions Officer at International School of Moscow, gives video tours via Skype for families who are not yet in Moscow. Expect lots of information, waves from students and presentations of projects by Ms. Kenyon and other teachers.

What is a typical day?
The International School of Moscow follows a Creative Curriculum model, which consists of linking subjects such as math and art. During an interactive tour of the school provided by Ms. Kenyon, I saw a display of geometric figures as art; a review of the lesson combining art and math. Students are taught by specialists, meaning their school day is divided by subject or specialty. Every morning, each class meets with their tutor, who is the head teacher for the group, and monitors the individual student's progress and study habits. Ms. Kenyon showed me various classes in session and introduced me to teachers. Ms. Greaves, the art teacher (and year 8 tutor), displayed projects by her students. Students attend specialty classes such as math, history and cultural studies and art. Specialists hold a minimum of a secondary degree and post graduate certificate of education in their field.




The International School of Moscow has a Russian program divided into three levels. Students attend class twice/week for one hour. They begin with the alphabet and various games and advance from there. Ms. Kenyon's daughters, Harriet and Lauren, demonstrated their Russian skills via Skype video. "They were ordering from a menu after three months", Ms. Kenyon said. Students also study French once per week.

Writing Pyramid
The International School of Moscow teaches through the writing pyramid, in which students begin with basic words and subjects and expand their vocabulary and writing style over the course of their education. Ms. Kenyon's daughters, Harriet and Lauren, worked on various projects that developed their business and personal communication skills. Harriet worked on a marketing assignment in which she created various advertisements for ISM targeted at parents, teachers and students while Lauren created an advertising campaign for helicopters and cars.

Extracurriculars
Extracurricular activities occur until 4:30 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Clubs range from swimming to origami, bowling to photography and drama to football. Ms. Kenyon's daughters are involved in threading, movie-making and drama (they are currently preparing a performance of Oliver Twist). Students also have the possibility to attend private music lessons, which are timetabled into the school day.


For parents, the school teaches a weekly Russian conversation class.

The "Harry Potter" Houses of ISM:
Along with divisions by year, students are grouped into four houses. Houses and house captains meet for an assembly every Monday and compete for points throughout the week. Every Friday, students select a subject to study during Golden Time; usually IT, music or art. Students earn house points and lose Golden Time based on behavior and achievements of the week.

Facilities:
The International School of Moscow is a modern facility with bright classrooms and interactive White Board technology. Students are in one of two campuses; both campuses house library and IT departments, with computers, books and a soon-to-be-opened chill-out area for students to do homework and socialize. The International School continues to expand and hire additional specialist teachers, as students advance.



Getting to School:
The International School of Moscow runs a bus service to the major expat neighborhoods of Moscow. See the schedule here: internationalschool.ru/info/Quicklinks/BusSchedule/en/

Metro: Krylatskoye (Крылатское)
Busses: 271,733, 829 to Tserkov' Rozhdestva Bogoroditsy (Церковь Рождества Богородицы)

See contact information and read similar articles on relocating to Moscow[/url] on our blog, athomenetwork.blogspot.com

Hi Hambim336,

Welcome on Expat-blog!

tokyoMoscow wrote:

Someone from Atlantic International School?

my 4 years old daughter is in Atlantic International school. we are very happy with the school. my daughter is turkish native speaker. when she started to summer school, she could not speak neither english nor russian. thanks to school she is now fluent in russian and very good at english. they have very good teachers (from canada, new zealand, america-very experinced teachers), management is great. there are also great facilities: swimming, yoga, piano,violin,  painting, ballet...

I am may be moving to Moscow next Aug to a position in a school, and i was wondering if anyone can provide me with the good and the ugly of schools there in general.

Thanks

What is the May holiday schedual for BIS May 1 Holiday

any qualitative comments about BIS in Moscow? (British International Schoole)

Moscow expat. from June 2012.

Is there anyone with kids at BIS Moscow?

any one advise fees for International school in moscow

My elder daughter (7 y.o.) attends British International School. I am not very happy with this school, so do many other parents. The owners do not seem to care much about the quality of education and school improvements. The teachers are being replaced every year and often more often than once a year. I think this is because the teachers are not very happy with what they see in the school and they often prefer to leave in the middle of the year. Parents have little idea of what their children study at school. The head teacher is expert in avoiding answering uncomfortable questions from parents and seems to have little power at all. The management often lies to parents and I seriously question their integrity and maturity - not a good example for kids. Most teachers seem to be OK, but for how long will they stay there and how motivated they are to provide good teaching? Little in my opinion. In general, I have a constant impression that the owner believes that parents exist to provide her with revenues in exchange for little service and quality. The vacations are long and do not always coincide with public holidays (is this the way to cut costs?) But the school is still oversubscribed, primarily because there is little competition around. Kindergarden teachers are OK, but the sanitary conditions and food are so-so. 

My younger child attends the English Nursery School. This is a very different story. Still expensive, but I don't regret my decision to send the second child there. The staff is stable, working there for several years, and the quality of education and other activities is superior. What a pity they do not have school for elder kids!

Hello to everyone, I'm moving to Moscow during the summer of 2013.  Already applied for BIS (Priorova campus) for my two daughters... Now a little bit confused with the comments, not really pleasant.
What is the choice? As I understood to enter AAS seems nearly impossible. 
Any other comments or tips?
Thanks a lot!

Have a look at Atlantic International School.

Monthly fee around 90000 rubles (3K USD). Entrance fee - from 5K USD per child to 10K per family.

another issue, my kids are have basic knowledge of English....

We are right now considering the schools in Moscow and are not sure which is the best... We've visited already Atlantic International School,International School of Moscow, British International School and for now we like the Atlantic most of all: very good facilities, nice building and friendly atmosphere (I'm talking about Skolkovo school, but I suppose all of them are more or less the same). However, ICM is also ok. Do you know some more schools in Moscow? (apart from Anglo-American - its almost impossible to get in there) Seems like there are not so many international schools in Moscow...

Depends on your location.
There is also English International school at Novogireevo.  They have other school at western south, but only primary.

Olenak, thank you! I live close to metro Universitat so south west or west of Moscow is a good option for me.

I'm a private English tutor and many Russian parents ask me which school is best for their kids. I have a few students who study at AAS and even more whose parents want them to attend there. After meeting and speaking to some teachers, I found out that AAS can be compared to a good public suburban school in the US. They are also implementing Common Core, of which American parents should definitely be aware. I'm just adding my two cents about AAS. I don't know much about this others except I have a couple students who go there and I know a few teachers who work at the different schools.

Hi to everybody.

Does anybody in this forum have the experience with BIS? We live far away from Atlantin school, and would like to try BIS in Yasenevo, but the reviews are not very good. On the other side, very few reviews.

Thanks

Hello-i use to have kid in BIS nr 1 .What can i say ?Drama.School building is very small and old .All mid personel is russian with little english knowledge and same attitude (i dont know i dont understand).Positives? Few -Classes look nice and clean and few teachers(English,Irish,Scotish)is outstanding -Immagine this -there is no single native speaker child  attending to this school-60% of pupils are kids of wealthy Russians-so U can immagine how it look like-when it come to discipline anbd education level Playground is a joke-forget about any trips to Museum swiming pool or Cinema ..No extra classes-except poetry and dancing...Overpriced.In scale 1 to 10 i will give barelly 3

Hello,
Maybe it would be useful for somebody...
We are Russians, but not that wealthy) We're in BIS on Nahimovsky prospekt. What can I definitely say? The school is big, so I didn't feel any problems with the premises or playground. The atmosphere at school is very friendly. My kid was ill for 1,5 of a week, so she really missed the school.  Her friend's Mum sent me the messages of how her daughter missed my girl. So it was very nice. Although we're native Russians her best friends are Greek and Korean, so it's not about the nationality, but about the level of English.
I would agree there were not too many excursions ( from Sept till April), I remember one or two to Moscow museums.
There are plenty of extra classes as well, part of them are free and provided by the school staff, the others are for money. But the fee is very low, I would rather say.
The teachers are very friendly with kids. The educational programme... Well, some expat families are really happy with it and I know that they have some experience from other countries to compare with. As for me, I'm satisfied for now with my kid's progress, but I'm sure there can be other Russian schools with stronger Maths if someone is looking for it. I would estimate it as reasonably high.
Best luck)))

If we had to recommend a school to any other expat in Moscow, for sure we will always indicate BISM. We have felt really good and we are satisfied with the integration of the children and the progress they have had. Everything was perfect!

Smiling and peaceful atmosphere! Truly international environment! Excellent teaching! My children have got new friends from all over the world

The small number of children in class makes it possible to go as far as possible in quality of teaching. Thank you for all the good work done this year

Kind and helpful staff. And many happy faces of all ages:) Kids like teachers and self management and many kinds of after-school activities