Yangon, Myanmar Report of what it's like to live there - 10/30/10
Personal Experiences from Yangon, Myanmar
School Name:
International School Yangon
Background Information:
1. Are you the parent of a child(ren) attending this school? A teacher at the school? Or both?
Parent
2. What grade or grades do/did your children attend at the school? During what year(s) did they attend the school?
2-5 and 7-9 During our time there
3. During what years were you affiliated with this school?
2006-2010
4. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
NGO & By post assignment
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?
Yes
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
A
Administration & School Procedures:
1. Describe the general climate of the grade level that you teach or your child attends:
Overall excellent, time to time difficulty with teachers
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?
Excellent at times
4. Services for gifted students who need academic challenge and students with learning difficulties:
There are not many tucked into this category
5. Availability and variety of after-school activities for various ages:
B in ES, A in Upper levels
6. Maintenance of appropriately high standards for all students:
B
7. Homework assigned (quality, quantity):
My child never ran afoul of HW in the ES, there was some in the upper grades
8. Administration-parent communication:
Transitioned from poor/none to Excellent and approachable during our time at ISY. The Administration as we left was stellar and had made great changes one year in.
9. Teacher-student communication:
A lot of the teachers are old. Many are out of touch with students.
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 grades in ES, My child struggled with grades 7 & 9.
11. Does your child receive any special-needs assistance or instruction at this school? If yes, what types? Who provides services and where:
no
12. Do you believe the special-needs assistance is appropriate and fills your needs? Explain:
13. Does the gifted and talented program meet the needs of students? Please explain:
14. Does the school offer a wide variety of elective or non-core classes such as art, music, and drama?
YEs
15. Please describe any classes or programs that you believe are missing:
16. Are there academic requirements such as trips or other activities that cost money in addition to school fees?
Yes, many. Some very good trips are included with our fees. We were happy about that at the MS level.
17. What activities do you feel are missing?
18. Have your children participated in the activities offered? If no, please indicate why:
Yes
19. Does the school provide appropriate assistance to new students?
Yes
20. Please describe any problem areas or challenges in social interaction at the school:
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?
Excellent in the ES, I don't know about college counseling but the students all go to good US universities it seems.
2. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
good library, relatively ok staff but library is not inviting for people currently. Maybe new staff will help.
3. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
Remarkably it improved a range as we left
4. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
B in ES, C- in Upper School
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?
During our tour ISY changed from AP to IB
7. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
It varies
8. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
B in ES A in Upper grades although they have increased programs in ES recently
9. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Yes
10. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
There is a level of instruction and activity that seems to meet this need in some places
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?
Yes
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
It is a mix of many expat-type groups. The kids generally mix well.
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, the climate does not allow this for the most part.
Overall Impressions:
1. What is the greatest strength of this school?
Some really good teachers, great leadership currently, strong programs in math and language. Yangon is a nice place to live. My eldest spent a lot of time at the school.
2. Greatest challenge?
Some teachers are holding the school back. Teacher relationships are poor, everyone knows about it. Some teachers are just too old to connect well to the kids and teacher appropriately.
3. Would you choose this school again? Why?
Yes, it is headed in a great direction.
