Reykjavik - School Report Question and Answers
Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
In the lower grades (up through grade 6, I believe) kids are divided into the "English stream" (all education in English) and the "Icelandic stream" (reading and writing are taught in Icelandic; all other subjects in English). I would say both groups are well integrated - there is not really a sense of one group of kids being "expats" and another group being "local." To my knowledge, just about all the kids at the school have at least one foreign (non-Icelandic) parent (even the kids in the "Icelandic stream"), so all the kids have a foot in at least one culture that is not Icelandic. The school is generally a combination of foreigners who are living in Iceland for work for a few years, and families who have made Iceland their long-term home, though one or both parents are from another country. - Jun 2023
During COVID, the kids were largely segregated (international vs. Icelandic) for hygiene/disease containment. They were in-school, in-person the entire time, usually without masks, and so they tried to keep groups separate. Now that COVID has largely abated, there is more international between Icelandic and international students. - Jul 2022
Not really, International students are generally separate from Icelandic students. The school never seemed to believe or address instances of Icelandic students who appeared to be ostracizing international school students. - Jan 2022
Yes - Mar 2015
Yes. - Aug 2014
Yes, during recess and lunch time. However, since my children are signed up in the local youth programs (Briedablik and Stjarnan), they also have interactions with Icelandic kids in the neighborhood. - May 2014
Socialization between ISI and the host school, Skaalandskoli, students is not encouraged nor supported. - Apr 2014
This is an issue as well. The school is a "school within a school" and there are some issues with our kids getting along appropriately with the Icelandic children. The "F" word is quite freely used here and our kids are exposed to language that we are not used to hearing at such a young age. It's not a good arrangement. - Mar 2014
