Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Report of what it's like to live there - 09/07/11
Personal Experiences from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
School Name:
International School of Ulaanbaatar
Background Information:
1. Are you the parent of a child(ren) attending this school? A teacher at the school? Or both?
teacher
2. What grade or grades do/did your children attend at the school? During what year(s) did they attend the school?
have taught 3rd and 5th grade
3. During what years were you affiliated with this school?
2008-2012
4. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
FSO spouse
Admissions & Welcome:
1. Are the admissions and placement procedures clearly stated to prospective families, either on the school website or through other means of communication?
C
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
C
Administration & School Procedures:
1. Describe the general climate of the grade level that you teach or your child attends:
very positive for children; still some difficulties for teachers as employees and parents in the area of communication; the school is still not consistently proactive to situations.
2. For the following attributes, down to the next blank box, grade your experience at the school on a scale of A (excellent) to F (unacceptable/terrible) and provide comments:<br><br>Overall fair and equitable treatment of all students and families:
A
3. How is the overall communication between teachers and parents, and the administration and parents? How is communication facilitated?
B
4. Services for gifted students who need academic challenge and students with learning difficulties:
C
5. Availability and variety of after-school activities for various ages:
C
6. Maintenance of appropriately high standards for all students:
B
7. Homework assigned (quality, quantity):
B
8. Administration-parent communication:
C
9. Teacher-student communication:
A
10. Academics, answer the following questions "yes" or "no" with an explanation if appropriate:<br><br>Are there any classes or subjects where students are not appropriately challenged?
Some, depending on the teacher.
11. Does your child receive any special-needs assistance or instruction at this school? If yes, what types? Who provides services and where:
some students do; there is one special needs teacher for the whole (PreK-12) school. Embassy children with additional issues are referred to the regional medical officer, based in Beijing. Other expat families are urged to get diagnosed in their home countries during school holidays.
12. Do you believe the special-needs assistance is appropriate and fills your needs? Explain:
I would not recommend Mongolia for children with severe special needs; it is a developing country and does not have the resources. For example, there are no English-speaking child psychologists in the country.
13. Does the gifted and talented program meet the needs of students? Please explain:
Again, there is no program, per se, so if a truly gifted and talented pupil came to our school it would be up to the teachers and head of school to help that student meet his or her needs through a special education plan.
14. Does the school offer a wide variety of elective or non-core classes such as art, music, and drama?
A decent variety for the size of the school; it is a small school but growing, and when a new campus is built, facilities will support additional elective/non-core classes
15. Please describe any classes or programs that you believe are missing:
Choir and/or band/orchestra for high school Computer/IT classes for primary students
16. Are there academic requirements such as trips or other activities that cost money in addition to school fees?
Everything is included in the very expensive tuition fees, except for a few optional trips such as MUN and sports tournaments in foreign countries.
17. What activities do you feel are missing?
More sports opportunities for primary students, such as basketball and soccer; more year-round outdoor education opportunities and volunteer opportunities for all ages
18. Have your children participated in the activities offered? If no, please indicate why:
The vast majority of my students participate fully in the after school activities offered.
19. Does the school provide appropriate assistance to new students?
A new student orientation day is helpful for families arriving before the beginning of the school year, but late-comers will have to rely on their parents' companies/embassies to get them acclimated. The school has a good week-long orientation for new staff before school starts, but has spotty assistance for ongoing problems related to housing, etc.
20. Please describe any problem areas or challenges in social interaction at the school:
It is a small school, so if your child does not easily make friends or seems not to "click" with the other students in his or her grade, loneliness can be a problem. The smaller secondary school is more difficult in this area; the primary grades tend to have around 20 students per level and quickly and warmly accept newcomers.
Academics & Resources:
1. What personal or academic counseling resources are available at this school? Is there a dedicated college counselor at the school? Is he/she familiar with universities worldwide?
C
2. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
B
3. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
C
4. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
C
5. What is the approximate teacher-to-student ratio in the grades that your child attended?
A
6. Are Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses available in upper grades? If this is an IB school, is the full diploma required of all students?
A
7. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
usually
8. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
C
9. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Homeroom & subject teachers are native or near-native English speakers; teaching assistants and local teachers vary from excellent to weak English skills.
10. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
The special needs teacher also serves as the gifted and talented support teacher, but no specific program exists. The primary school curriculum does differentiate to some extent but there are few special opportunities above and beyond those created by the homeroom teacher.
11. What extra-curricular activities (including sports) are available at this school? Have your children participated in these activities? What activities do you feel are missing at the school?
As with elective classes, there is a decent variety for the size of the school; it is difficult to find reliable local vendors/organizations and most parents are under-involved with the school so after school activities are almost all run by teachers. There is a piano teacher and an outdoor education specialist that work with students after school.
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
Yes, students in general get along well with each other; invite each other to birthday parties, etc. Due to terrible traffic and safety issues, most children play with others in their own neighborhoods except on weekends. However, the neighborhoods are a mix of local and expat families so socializing between nationalities is still somewhat easy.
2. Are there are any problems with exclusionary behavior, cliques, or bullying at this school? Please describe any problems your children may have experienced in this area.
No, there is no "us-them" at ISU; the school maintains a strict rule about no single nationality becoming a majority of the student population; students come from many different countries. The IB learner profile stresses open-mindedness and tolerance in building internationally-minded people. Bullying or teasing that does happen is an issue with individuals, not groups.
Overall Impressions:
1. What is the greatest strength of this school?
The close-knit community feel among students and teachers, and the fact that the new administration is taking the 5-year strategic plan seriously as a guide toward building a better school.
2. Greatest challenge?
Getting stakeholders (board members, parents, administrators, expat organizations, etc.) to be proactive about the changes that need to happen and will happen in the school as outlined in the 5-year strategic plan (which mirrors the challenge Ulaanbaatar itself faces as a capital city undergoing a period of change and growth.)
3. Would you choose this school again? Why?
Yes, ISU has a dynamic new director and head of primary which has already made a difference in the morale of the teachers here, though some aspects of the school's organization and procedures are exasperating (the school tries to keep workplace issues, including struggles with the Mongolian government from everything from work permits to holding up overseas teaching materials at customs, from interfering with students' learning and well-being, but as an employee it gets old, fast.)
