Skopje, North Macedonia Report of what it's like to live there - 12/28/17
Personal Experiences from Skopje, North Macedonia
School Name:
QSI
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?
5-7, 2015-2017.
3. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
Government.
4. Are other schools available to expatriates in this city? Why did you choose this particular school?
NOVA is a bigger and better choice, in my opinion. There is also a small French school.
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?
Just show up, they will take you, no need to apply before arriving at post.
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
Poor, there is really no effective PTA, no mentors, no welcome committee.
Administration & School Procedures:
1. How is the overall communication between teachers and parents, and the administration and parents? How is communication facilitated?
We found communication to be poor. Emails to some teachers went unanswered. Emails to the school head were ignored or sometimes answered with odd answers - when the French teacher was suddenly gone, with no communication, we wrote to the head to ask what had happened. His response "Why do you want to know that?" Our kids were in the French class....
A few teacher set up blogs during our time there, but they were abandoned pretty quickly. A few teachers sent out an occasional newsletter.
2. Aside from school fees, are there required expenses such as uniforms, laptops/tablets, musical instruments, or field trips that parents are expected to cover? What are the approximate costs?
School trips if they happen....during our time the middle school teacher wanted to organize a trip to Greece but a few missionary parents were very vocal in the "unfairness" of that and the head canceled the trip...without any parent notice.
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?
We did not know of any college counselor. We heard that they claim the kids can use one actually employed in Georgia. During our time there, they only had one graduating senior each year. We heard that one had no help from Georgia and had no idea that was an option. It seems that the other ended up joining the army in his home country...though the school is still under the impression he is a student at an American college.
2. Is there before and/or after-school daycare available? What are the costs?
No, but...K-6 grade lets out about an hour before the upper grades but the kids cannot go home. They have forced after school activities. We found these often poorly organized with very few things on offer. My 6th grader had to take Lego club one semester. Lego club was the gym teacher emptying out a tub of Legos on the floor and then playing on her phone for the hour....extremely unimpressed by all of it. Free play was also a common choice.
3. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
Library is very small. It seems that they get a handful of books every year. Many books have been donated by families leaving. Lots of religiously based books.
4. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
There is a computer lab staffed by the school 'doctor.' As far as I could tell the computers were there to let young children play games.
5. What are the technology requirements for students? Do they need their own laptops/ipads? How is technology integrated into the classroom and homework?
No need for anything really. Some upper school students have laptops but there are always several who cannot afford them.
6. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
There is a small gym. The floor was buckled most of our time there. No pool. There is a field and a blacktop area, but we heard that the regional head had plans to cover both with trailers in his grand plan for the school.
7. What is the approximate teacher-to-student ratio in the grades that your child attended?
Small. 11 to 1 or 8 to 1.
8. 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?
We were not aware of anything like this.
9. Are students generally challenged appropriately by the curriculum? Please describe any particular strengths or weaknesses in this area. Do you have any thoughts how the curriculum is applied and implemented at this school?
I found the curriculum to be generally weak. It seemed that some teachers just ignored it. One year an embassy family member worked as the MS math teacher - his grand plan was to let the kids 'look up math videos on youtube' in lieu of any organized math. He was fired as science teacher mid year as that was also his plan for that...
Other child's teacher was using materials for 4th grade for his 5/6 grade class because there were many special needs.
No other parents either noticed or found these things unacceptable.
10. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
Homework was rarely given by some teachers. Though one teacher gave math homework every night, including Fridays.
11. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
Music is rock band. No choir or band/orchestra instruments. One of the two music teachers was nice but the other often video taped the kids as a threat when they were misbehaving.
Drama? Not really, they put on a school wide show every Xmas or spring. I found them uncomfortably badly done.
There is an art teacher but it seemed that she was stressed about supplies all year.
12. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Yes, everyone speaks English. Though levels vary...the PE teacher, for example, seemed to allow cursing but I don't think she knows that is frowned upon by native speakers.
All written communication from the school is clearly not written by a strong English speaker. Makes the school look unprofessional.
13. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
None! Daughter's 5th grade teacher was fuming when we met to discuss the issue. It seemed that he felt personally attacked...but then he was using materials a year behind because so many of the kids had issues. He argued, but when the spelling test says '4th grade' printed across the bottom...you're busted.
14. What services are available for students with learning disabilities at this school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
One HS kid with severe autism had a full-time aide, though she seems to do other things as well. One boy in 2nd grade also had a half-time aide for behavior.
15. What services are available for students with physical disabilities at this school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
None.
16. What services are provided for speakers of English as a second language at this school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
A local woman who went to school in the U.S. offers ESL classes.
17. 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?
We were disappointed by the shortage of sports teams and extra curricular activities. Nothing offered for MS and HS during our time there - other than - take piano/guitar lessons.
It is a big missing piece from the school. Older kids are very bored in Skopje in general.
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
There were not too many actual Macedonians at the school. Mostly foreigners. Very large church clique at the school though. We heard that the regional head wanted to get all foreign missionary kids in (for free) so the school would look better to embassy families.
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.
Yes!! In our experience, bullying was rampant in many levels. Our son was called a 'faggot' by another boy for most of our time there. Head of school didn't believe us. Then we showed him a note written by the bully. Finally head of school reacted by asking, "Well, is he?" Nothing was done.
Overall Impressions:
1. What letter grade (ranging from A, excellent, to F, fail) would you assign to this school based on your overall experience? Would you choose it again?
F-. We would either choose NOVA or SMA. We curtailed our tour.
2. Please tell us anything else you think prospective parents and students should know about this school. Thanks for your contribution!
Choose NOVA, or if your child is small, the French school, boarding school or don't come.
There were concerns regarding the behavior of a male teacher toward female students that some parents did not feel were adequately addressed.
We also heard that as of May 2017 the school was over $5 million USD in debt.
I know other people have loved the little school in years past but it has really turned into a disaster, in my opinion.
