The problem I have with places like this is the money. They charge an arm and a leg. What do you get? Sure, the foreign teachers are nice - they should be at least that for the money these schools charge! I'm not sure that families get in return for what these schools demand. Calling itself an "international" school just doesn't justify the expense in my books. St Stephens is just another example.
They charge "an arm and a leg" because what qualified Western teacher is going to come and work for a Thai salary? We moved to the Pak Chong area from Bangkok, my wife wanted to be closer to her family and we wanted to get out of the city. We looked at a few of the international school in the wider area but only St Stephen's was the one that I would call an international school. There is California Prep and St John Mary's in the Saraburi area, both are considerably cheaper but after closer inspection, I discovered that the teachers were either not native English speakers or were native English speakers but not actual qualified teachers. Not sure about you Overdog, but my child's education is important and it matters to me that he is being taught at a school that hires qualified teachers. We had heard on the grapevine that St Stephen's wasn't a good school, and searches on the internet brought up some negative comments. However, most of them were at least 5 years old. Since enrolling our son there we have been very happy with the school. The class sizes are small, the teachers are experienced and there is not a high turnover of staff; most have been working at the school for longer than 3 years.
Sam, perhaps a visit to the area and St Stephen's would be a good way to form an opinion. The school is very welcoming when it comes to visits. You can arrange for your children to spend a day at the school and meet the staff. If you make sure you visit on a school day, there is a good chance you can meet some of the other parents and chat to them too.
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St Stephens International School Khao Yai Reviews
in Primary & Secondary Education
Posted
They charge "an arm and a leg" because what qualified Western teacher is going to come and work for a Thai salary? We moved to the Pak Chong area from Bangkok, my wife wanted to be closer to her family and we wanted to get out of the city. We looked at a few of the international school in the wider area but only St Stephen's was the one that I would call an international school. There is California Prep and St John Mary's in the Saraburi area, both are considerably cheaper but after closer inspection, I discovered that the teachers were either not native English speakers or were native English speakers but not actual qualified teachers. Not sure about you Overdog, but my child's education is important and it matters to me that he is being taught at a school that hires qualified teachers. We had heard on the grapevine that St Stephen's wasn't a good school, and searches on the internet brought up some negative comments. However, most of them were at least 5 years old. Since enrolling our son there we have been very happy with the school. The class sizes are small, the teachers are experienced and there is not a high turnover of staff; most have been working at the school for longer than 3 years.
Sam, perhaps a visit to the area and St Stephen's would be a good way to form an opinion. The school is very welcoming when it comes to visits. You can arrange for your children to spend a day at the school and meet the staff. If you make sure you visit on a school day, there is a good chance you can meet some of the other parents and chat to them too.