International School In Chiang Mai Reasonable Fees

[blossombkk]

We are about to relocate in chiang mai and i have been looking for schools for my daughter who would be 6th grade next year.

I looked up CMIS, Lana, Nakorn Payap, APIS, Prem, Apis, and they are all very expensive. around 400-500 thousand tb annual fees including reg. and other fees.

Does anybody know about a school which is not christian and cost not more than 200 thousand a year including other fees? and still good enough?

any inforamtion would be much appreciated.

[naboo]

400-500k Baht?I think you should look again. APIS and Prem, maybe. The others are cheaper.

How old is your daughter?

[blossombkk]

400-500k Baht?I think you should look again. APIS and Prem, maybe. The others are cheaper.

How old is your daughter?

My daughter will be 12 next year (6th grade). you are right, not all of them are that expensive, but they are either very christian or british curiculum which would be very difficult for her since english is not her first language.

I know that rules out most of them. but maybe there are other schools there, who don't have websites and i couldn't get to them in the first place?

[richard10365]

Check out this school. It might be an option that would work for you.

http://www.yupparajep.net/about/

[WinnieTheKhwai]

My daughter will be 12 next year (6th grade). you are right, not all of them are that expensive, but they are either very christian or british curiculum which would be very difficult for her since english is not her first language.

In that case, why not pick a school that has en English Programme, as opposed to full international? Those are more affordable, they stick to the official Thai curriculum (taught in English, by teachers from English speaking countries) which means that moving on to a regular Thai university becomes feasible. Most kids will actually be Thai (of parents who want them to learn good English), with some mixed Thai-Something kids as well as a couple full Western or Japanese or Korean kids; a nice mix.

For example at Varee, but there are a others too: http://www.varee.ac..../en/index.php

At Varee they have Mathayom education in English too (they also have a Thai program, of course), meaning your daughter can stay at the same school. The school is very big, which I tend to consider a negative, though I'm seeing a lot of individual attention. Overall I can recommend it. It's not super cheap, but well below the level of full International Schools.

[richard10365]

I think you should look at Nakorn Payap again. Their fees are the lowest for a Non-Christian school. I calculated about, 240,000/year but I might have missed something.

http://www.nis.ac.th/

[Caibiao]

If you can accept bilingual school, you can see this one, www.absbilingualschool.com

I think it is a good one. Every class has a native English teacher. Teachers there are very nice. And fee are no more than 100,000B one year.

Their tel for enrolling students is: 0819506659

[blossombkk]

I think you should look at Nakorn Payap again. Their fees are the lowest for a Non-Christian school. I calculated about, 240,000/year but I might have missed something.

http://www.nis.ac.th/

nis is 297,000 yearly including registration and other fees. that's somewhat over what i can pay.

[blossombkk]

If you can accept bilingual school, you can see this one, www.absbilingualschool.com

I think it is a good one. Every class has a native English teacher. Teachers there are very nice. And fee are no more than 100,000B one year.

Their tel for enrolling students is: 0819506659

My daughter is having difficulty with languages in general. that's on top of us not being an english speaking family. so i'd have to rule it out.

thanks though, looks like a very nice school.

[blossombkk]

Check out this school. It might be an option that would work for you.

http://www.yupparajep.net/about/

Thanks. I did check it out and will speak to them tomorrow on the phone. looks good

[franco767]

Thanks for all of the good info, I will definitely check it out.

Franco

[blossombkk]

any other suggestions would be appreciated,that would help us fall on the right school.

[zippydedodah]

There are different levels of "christian" to the various schools. Grace is noted for being very Christian... not sure where CMIS falls in the public perception, but we are a buddhist family and our daughter goes there (for 3 yrs now). I do not find the Christian concepts intrusive or overbearing at the school, at least in the teaching/admin side of things. The biggest problem for us has been some of the children that our daughter plays with (with parents who are missionaries) and those kids saying: why do you believe in dinosaurs?!?! Dinosaurs did not exist!!! Why don't you go to Church? Can i teach you to be a Christian? and other such things. This is a parenting issue (to me), not a school issue.

Also, after school ESL classes are available at many of the schools... the difficult part might be getting into the school as a certain proficiency is required just to attend daily classes.

Good luck with finding the right school...

[WinnieTheKhwai]

My daughter is having difficulty with languages in general. that's on top of us not being an english speaking family. so i'd have to rule it out.

In that case I really don't understand why you would want an international school, or even a bilingual school or English program. International schools exist BECAUSE they offer all classes in English, to a UK or US curriculum. They are most suited for families who are staying in Thailand temporarily, for example because they're placed here by an employer or government for some period of time, but will then be moving on and their kids will still need to fit into the UK or US educational system. That's why they can charge a premium: UK/US standards for everything, and companies and governments paying the bills no matter how stratospheric they get.

If you don't want any of that including the language, then you should not be even looking at international schools but at good quality private Thai schools. There are many of those in Chiang Mai.

[blossombkk]

There are different levels of "christian" to the various schools. Grace is noted for being very Christian... not sure where CMIS falls in the public perception, but we are a buddhist family and our daughter goes there (for 3 yrs now). I do not find the Christian concepts intrusive or overbearing at the school, at least in the teaching/admin side of things. The biggest problem for us has been some of the children that our daughter plays with (with parents who are missionaries) and those kids saying: why do you believe in dinosaurs?!?! Dinosaurs did not exist!!! Why don't you go to Church? Can i teach you to be a Christian? and other such things. This is a parenting issue (to me), not a school issue.

Also, after school ESL classes are available at many of the schools... the difficult part might be getting into the school as a certain proficiency is required just to attend daily classes.

Good luck with finding the right school...

Thank you for that information. Maybe it doesn't suit us for the things you mentioned, i.e. the children's beliefs. I would like my daughter to socialize and to be comfortable. That information helps too.

[blossombkk]

My daughter is having difficulty with languages in general. that's on top of us not being an english speaking family. so i'd have to rule it out.

In that case I really don't understand why you would want an international school, or even a bilingual school or English program. International schools exist BECAUSE they offer all classes in English, to a UK or US curriculum. They are most suited for families who are staying in Thailand temporarily, for example because they're placed here by an employer or government for some period of time, but will then be moving on and their kids will still need to fit into the UK or US educational system. That's why they can charge a premium: UK/US standards for everything, and companies and governments paying the bills no matter how stratospheric they get.

If you don't want any of that including the language, then you should not be even looking at international schools but at good quality private Thai schools. There are many of those in Chiang Mai.

Maybe I didn't put it right. We are here to stay for a few years and my daughter does speak English, although not like a native. She doesn't speak Thai at all, so a Thai school might not be a good idea for her. Our own language is taught only in our country, so that would be unrealistic. International English language school would be the only choice for her.

[zippydedodah]

There are different levels of "christian" to the various schools. Grace is noted for being very Christian... not sure where CMIS falls in the public perception, but we are a buddhist family and our daughter goes there (for 3 yrs now). I do not find the Christian concepts intrusive or overbearing at the school, at least in the teaching/admin side of things. The biggest problem for us has been some of the children that our daughter plays with (with parents who are missionaries) and those kids saying: why do you believe in dinosaurs?!?! Dinosaurs did not exist!!! Why don't you go to Church? Can i teach you to be a Christian? and other such things. This is a parenting issue (to me), not a school issue.

Also, after school ESL classes are available at many of the schools... the difficult part might be getting into the school as a certain proficiency is required just to attend daily classes.

Good luck with finding the right school...

Thank you for that information. Maybe it doesn't suit us for the things you mentioned, i.e. the children's beliefs. I would like my daughter to socialize and to be comfortable. That information helps too.

Don't get me wrong... my daughter has a very good social life anyways... these are not insurmountable things to overcome. We teach her that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, beliefs and feelings, but that does not mean that they are "right" for her.... plus, there are lots of other buddhist/thai families as well as buddhist/korean families that have children that she plays with, during and outside of school

[blossombkk]

There are different levels of "christian" to the various schools. Grace is noted for being very Christian... not sure where CMIS falls in the public perception, but we are a buddhist family and our daughter goes there (for 3 yrs now). I do not find the Christian concepts intrusive or overbearing at the school, at least in the teaching/admin side of things. The biggest problem for us has been some of the children that our daughter plays with (with parents who are missionaries) and those kids saying: why do you believe in dinosaurs?!?! Dinosaurs did not exist!!! Why don't you go to Church? Can i teach you to be a Christian? and other such things. This is a parenting issue (to me), not a school issue.

Also, after school ESL classes are available at many of the schools... the difficult part might be getting into the school as a certain proficiency is required just to attend daily classes.

Good luck with finding the right school...

Thank you for that information. Maybe it doesn't suit us for the things you mentioned, i.e. the children's beliefs. I would like my daughter to socialize and to be comfortable. That information helps too.

Don't get me wrong... my daughter has a very good social life anyways... these are not insurmountable things to overcome. We teach her that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, beliefs and feelings, but that does not mean that they are "right" for her.... plus, there are lots of other buddhist/thai families as well as buddhist/korean families that have children that she plays with, during and outside of school

That is goog to know. I just have a bad experience here in bangkok where a family which we are very friendly with, trys to convert us on every occasion. recently i was away for a few days and they tried it with my 16 yr old. she got very upset about it. we are jewish btw.

[blossombkk]

hi, i checked all schools that were recommended are sorted out most. panyden and yupparaj teach partly in thai so that would be impossible for my daughter. my last option is varee and they are british curriculum. although they say they offer help for some children, it might be a little difficult for my daugher.

any other suggestions??

[folium]

hi, i checked all schools that were recommended are sorted out most. panyden and yupparaj teach partly in thai so that would be impossible for my daughter. my last option is varee and they are british curriculum. although they say they offer help for some children, it might be a little difficult for my daugher.

any other suggestions??

Have a look at Lanna.

Reasonably priced, no chance of attempts at conversion (!), wide range of kids with all sorts of language backgrounds and varying skill levels of English, decent teaching, and offers plenty of help for those with weak English.

[blossombkk]

hi, i checked all schools that were recommended are sorted out most. panyden and yupparaj teach partly in thai so that would be impossible for my daughter. my last option is varee and they are british curriculum. although they say they offer help for some children, it might be a little difficult for my daugher.

any other suggestions??

Have a look at Lanna.

Reasonably priced, no chance of attempts at conversion (!), wide range of kids with all sorts of language backgrounds and varying skill levels of English, decent teaching, and offers plenty of help for those with weak English.

Thanks, does look like a good choice.

cheers

[Gonzo the Face]

Definitely not wanting to sound disrespectful or rude, but it does look like a much better investigation should have been done before moving out here. Of course I do accept that there are times when moves are company of otherwise mandatory, but we are discussing your daughters education and future here.

I do think it will be very difficult for you to find a school that will fit your needs, wants and desires, and still within a limited range of finance. It could sound that your daughter's education would be negatively affected by any decision made at this point...... the best thing would be to hope for the lesser of all evils.

As it is only for a few years, would it not be possible for one parent to live back home with periodic visits ffrom the other at least for the first couple formative years ? I fully agree that is not a good solution, but I can really feel the hurt, at whatever level that will be incurred by your daughter in trying to fit in , here in any school. Yes , I understand that sometime the best way to learn how to swim is to be thrown into the pool.

The other option that has not been suggested, and there are a lot of families doing this here, is Homeschooling. Would that be an option in your situation?

In any event, my thoughts will be with you for your best possible of success and wishing you the easiest and best of outcomes.

G

[richard10365]

Check out Dara Academy too.

http://score.dara.ac.th/np/

They are Catholic but most students are Buddhist.

[blossombkk]

Definitely not wanting to sound disrespectful or rude, but it does look like a much better investigation should have been done before moving out here. Of course I do accept that there are times when moves are company of otherwise mandatory, but we are discussing your daughters education and future here.

I do think it will be very difficult for you to find a school that will fit your needs, wants and desires, and still within a limited range of finance. It could sound that your daughter's education would be negatively affected by any decision made at this point...... the best thing would be to hope for the lesser of all evils.

As it is only for a few years, would it not be possible for one parent to live back home with periodic visits ffrom the other at least for the first couple formative years ? I fully agree that is not a good solution, but I can really feel the hurt, at whatever level that will be incurred by your daughter in trying to fit in , here in any school. Yes , I understand that sometime the best way to learn how to swim is to be thrown into the pool.

The other option that has not been suggested, and there are a lot of families doing this here, is Homeschooling. Would that be an option in your situation?

In any event, my thoughts will be with you for your best possible of success and wishing you the easiest and best of outcomes.

G

Hi to you and thank you for the reply.

I think we could do the move successfuly since my daughter is familiar with similar relocations. i already spoke to 2 schools that look all right for her. homeschooling is out of the question since socializing is extremely important to her.

[blossombkk]

Check out Dara Academy too.

http://score.dara.ac.th/np/

They are Catholic but most students are Buddhist.

Thanks, i did look at it. they are missionaries. too distant from our beliefs.

[Gonzo the Face]

Perhaps a good person for you to talk to. I have had a couple of conversations with her over the years and she seems to be a tremendous lady.

I need some help from some of the other members on here with supplying her name. She is the lady who has/had the Jerusalem Falafel that is or was at Thapae Gate.

Maybe someone would be so kind as to supply the name or contact details for you.

If nothing other than just a conversation may supply you with a great deal of help.

G

[blossombkk]

Perhaps a good person for you to talk to. I have had a couple of conversations with her over the years and she seems to be a tremendous lady.

I need some help from some of the other members on here with supplying her name. She is the lady who has/had the Jerusalem Falafel that is or was at Thapae Gate.

Maybe someone would be so kind as to supply the name or contact details for you.

If nothing other than just a conversation may supply you with a great deal of help.

G

falafel?!?! that implies to us. definitly...

[Gonzo the Face]

UG .... you out there ????

You gotta name and contact dets for the Jerusalem Falafel lady..... ??

Give this poster a CM helping hand please.

G

[blossombkk]

UG .... you out there ????

You gotta name and contact dets for the Jerusalem Falafel lady..... ??

Give this poster a CM helping hand please.

G

no, i'm the one who is looking for a school in cm.

[hedonist44]

My daughter will be 12 next year (6th grade). you are right, not all of them are that expensive, but they are either very christian or british curiculum which would be very difficult for her since english is not her first language.

In that case, why not pick a school that has en English Programme, as opposed to full international? Those are more affordable, they stick to the official Thai curriculum (taught in English, by teachers from English speaking countries) which means that moving on to a regular Thai university becomes feasible. Most kids will actually be Thai (of parents who want them to learn good English), with some mixed Thai-Something kids as well as a couple full Western or Japanese or Korean kids; a nice mix.

For example at Varee, but there are a others too: http://www.varee.ac..../en/index.php

At Varee they have Mathayom education in English too (they also have a Thai program, of course), meaning your daughter can stay at the same school. The school is very big, which I tend to consider a negative, though I'm seeing a lot of individual attention. Overall I can recommend it. It's not super cheap, but well below the level of full International Schools.

I agree with WTK. My 13 year old Thai/American son has gone there for 7 years and loves it. He's always been in the English program and is fluent in Thai and English (reading and writing) and is doing very well and loves the school. The tuition has come down this year for him, from 45,000 or so to only 30,000 per term. Two terms per year. I have had some issues with them as far as not sending home thing in English that I need to know and having "hair police" keeping his hair cut to their liking, but at the end of the day it's not a big issue considering the big picture.

Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect, but what is?