Cm Schools

[Ricardo]

My 8-year-old will need to go to school, once we move to CM, hopefully early-2005.

Does anyone have any views on which are the best ones, for a good international education, to supplement the schools' regular web-sites ?

Thanks for any info !

[lamphun]

The International Schools in CM with the possible exception of Prem, aren't a great advertisement for the capacity of schools to educate kids.

I must take issue with IT's broad statement.

I actually have kids in intenational school so here's my view.

Prem, Mai Rim American System

pro - teaching standards are generally regarded as ok

con - very very expensive, miles out of town, ok if you live in Mai Rim.

NIS, near city hall on ring road - American System

pro - teaching standards are generally good to high. higher in fact that most normal schools in europe. Teachers are of a number of nationalities but all speak perfect english and generally have good teaching experience. Good enclosed campus, safe. No overt religious teaching. Very good headmaster. Reasonable fees.

con- Pupil numbers are still low for the new campus. The curricullum still a bit limited in the high school however as pupil numbers increase this should improve.

CMIS in city behind Prince School. American System

pro - Generally good curriculum. Good mix of nationalities in the pupils. Reasonable fees.

con - Teaching standards a bit mixed though I understand from some parents that they've improved over the last couple of years. Some pushing of American style religion.

Grace, at World Club estate on Hang Dong Road. American System

Pro - Very good resources, reasonable fees.

Con - Holy rollers, mostly missionary kids.

Can't comment on teaching, but most teachers are American mid western types.

Lanna, Hang Dong Road behind airport. British system.

pro - reasonable fees.

con - small and odd campus. Teaching standards a bit mixed.

Can't comment too much except that in the past kids thrown out by the other schools used to end up here. This may not be the case now.

American Pacific, Somewhere up the Samoeng Road. American System.

Pro - ?

Con - Lots of Bangkok chinese kids boarded. Behaviour problems.

You'll obviously see from the above that my kids are at NIS and I hope that I don't give the impression that I'm biased against other schools. I actually started two of my children at CMIS a few years back, but wasn't happy with their progress.

In any case you should take a good look at them all and talk to the staff.

Best of luck !!

[The Quill]

Some time ago there was discussion about home schooling resources in CM.

I don't know a lot about it, but may be worth a search. I agree IT made a fairly wide generalisation, and I disagree with that, since I doubt he has kids in other than Thai schools.

I am happy to be told that is incorrect but certainly that is my view from several of his postings.

[Ricardo]

Boarding school at home?

(Boarding)xxx(/home)

They'll be at home with us, in Mae-Jo , so day-school rather than boarding. Sorry I didn't make this clearer.

[p1p]

Prem, Mai Rim American System

pro - teaching standards are generally regarded as ok

con - very very expensive, miles out of town, ok if you live in Mai Rim.

The Prem Centre follows the IB (International Baccalaureate) syllabus, not an American system. This is certainly the school I would send my children to if I could afford it, although the fees are not very much higher than other local International schools and are still low if compared with schools in the south or center of Thailand.

My youngest two are about to start full time International education later this year and I find myself in a quandry. Schools here change so fast in terms of their teaching standards etc. that one really needs an ear to the ground in the Expat community to know which is currently the second best, after Prem.

Good luck

[p1p]

As a Post Script. The facilities for sports are severely lacking in some of the local International schools. Prem is very well equipped but most others seem to have little more than a swimming pool and gymnasium. Personally I regard this as one of the most important sides of schooling and am loathe to send my youngest two to a school with inadequacies in this field. (I have two older children boarding in England.)

[mrmnp]

Am adding my two cents, and not worth much more.

There is newly built shool, which I drive by on my way to Carrefour, turn off Mae Rim Road southbond to eastbound rim highway #2 at the prison and it is on the left. Name is Nakorn Payap. Looks very upscale but thats it.

Would like to hear comments about that shcool?

Chiang Mai is reputed to have a very competitive job market for teachers as the living here is so great, I would expect the quality of teaching to be very high.

[et33.com]

i say

how to get a teaching post in Chiangmai...

[lamphun]

Prem as I understand is a million plus entrance fees not including the actual term fees.

The new school near city hall and the jail is NIS which used to be behind makro.

[lamphun]

Apologies, when I wrote American System I actually meant International Baccalaureate.

Again I say Prem very expensive for no actual benefit.

[Ricardo]

Many thanks for all the helpful posts , especially lamphun , hope this thread will be generally useful to other new-arrivals.

NIS didn't reply to emails for prices etc , from their web-site , so must phone them when we're next in town !

[BlissfullyIgnorant]

I must confess that I don't have a lot of background in this area, but there is a brand new school just opened on Aon Muang Rd, not far from the Ping River bridge called Varee.

For now I've settled on sending my step-daughter to Dara Academy on Kaew Nawarat Rd - it's well establshed, and very reasonably priced. As for the quality of education, well I'll have to wait and see - she's only starting year 1 so there's plenty of time to switch if need be.

I will follow this thread with interest, as this whole parenting thing is a bit unknown to me!

[lamphun]

Phrahatruethai has a stream taught entirely in english. Started last year and the cost isn't too high.

[thenewguy]

I am curious about preschools or daycare in Chiang Mai. My family and I are scheduled to move to Chiang Mai in May and we will be needing daycare for our three year old. We would certainly like for her to begin learning Thai, but have no idea what might be available and/or recommended. We will be teaching at CMU and will hopefully be living very close to the campus (I'll be posting a request for housing info also).

Any feedback will certainly be appreciated.

[john b good]

Does anyone have any info / opinions on the three schools on Charoenprathet Road. From the look of them the student make up is predominately Thai kids.

The scools are Pharathai (Holy Cross), Regina Coeli which are both for girls and Montfort for boys.

A draw back as I have observed would be the major traffic jams when kids are being dropped off in the mornings and again late afternoon.

[lamphun]

Prahutruethai is fairly up market and regarded as a decent school. Run by nuns, with a lot of emphasis on the catholic deal, but most kids are thai buddists. Montfort is the best Thai boys school in town. Better reputation than Prince. Montfort has a secondary (Upper) school on the airport road. Regina Coeli is is not that well known, so I'm not sure about this. Main drawback is the traffic on Charoenprathet Road. If you don't drop the kids off by 7 am then you'll be stuck in traffic for an hour.

[Ajarn]

Montfort is the best Thai boys school in town. Better reputation than Prince. Montfort has a secondary (Upper) school on the airport road. Regina Coeli is is not that well known, so I'm not sure about this. Main drawback is the traffic on Charoenprathet Road. If you don't drop the kids off by 7 am then you'll be stuck in traffic for an hour.

One Thai family I've known for awhile has their two boys at Montfort, and their two girls at Regina. The parents love the schools, and so do their kids.... I tutored all of them for awhile, and I was impressed with their general knowledge, and especially their English programs at both schools. Native speakers, qualified to teach, and not using standard Thai-produced materials...

[Doisaketmoobaan]

I am curious about preschools or daycare in Chiang Mai. My family and I are scheduled to move to Chiang Mai in May and we will be needing daycare for our three year old. We would certainly like for her to begin learning Thai, but have no idea what might be available and/or recommended. We will be teaching at CMU and will hopefully be living very close to the campus (I'll be posting a request for housing info also).

Any feedback will certainly be appreciated.

Little Stars on nimmanheimen very good farang daycare/preschool. very caring

[p1p]

I am curious about preschools or daycare in Chiang Mai. My family and I are scheduled to move to Chiang Mai in May and we will be needing daycare for our three year old. We would certainly like for her to begin learning Thai, but have no idea what might be available and/or recommended. We will be teaching at CMU and will hopefully be living very close to the campus (I'll be posting a request for housing info also).

Any feedback will certainly be appreciated.

Little Stars on nimmanheimen very good farang daycare/preschool. very caring

Have a look at Kiddy Bear, behind the big Honda motorcycle dealership on Kaew Nawarat road. My two youngest are just leaving there after three/four happy years.

[adjan jb]

Does anyone have any info on a German school in CM ?

[lamphun]

Does anyone have any info on a German school in CM ?

I know where it is, but I don't suppose that's the info you're looking for.

[adjan jb]

Does anyone have any info on a German school in CM ?

I know where it is, but I don't suppose that's the info you're looking for.

I would be very grateful if you could give me the address.

[lamphun]

Maybe I shouldn't have posted.

It's location.

It's near Viang Gam Gum. at the back of Saraphi.

From the superhighway to Lampang drive south past BIG C, take the new ring road, that's the second flyover after BIG C. Drive along this road towards the Ping river/HangDong. Before you reach the Ping River there is a sign in German pointing left towards the school. It's about a kilometer down this small road.

I hope that's clear.

[holm188]

the german school has a website:

www.cdscm.org

[adjan jb]

Thanks to Lamphun and Holm188.

[Ricardo]

Having just visited , gained the following impressions :-

CMIS - competent enough , in a quiet but central location , however sports-activities a little limited

NIS - loved the buildings , but farang teachers & pupils seemed a little thin-on-the-ground , and the new owner (after 2 (?) years) seems yet to have got a grip. Probably good value-for-money , and well worth considering , but do-it-yourself transport. Would probably be fine for kids likely to be spending the rest of their lives in Thailand. For example - only offers English and Thai , NO other language-options.

Prem - what can we say , abolutely Kock-Out , both facilities/commitment-to-education & Prices (Gulp) ! Caveat ... IF they can walk-the-walk as well as talk-the-talk.

Does anyone have any experience , after a year or two at Prem , how it actually works out for their kids there ? ? ?

[Ricardo]

Prem - abolutely Kock-Out

Whoopsie - Slight typographic-error there - Hope that it wasn't too Freudian - blame this cheap-and-tinny keyboard at Carrefour

[Johpa]

Does anyone have any experience , after a year or two at Prem , how it actually works out for their kids there ? ? ?

I haven't been involved in Prem but if it is a true IB (International Baccalaureate) program, which I am familiar with, then students there should get a great education as it is a fine educational program that should attract good faculty. Not to mention that the local Tambon, San Sai I believe, is a great location being close enough to the big city but still far enough away to be quiet (except for the khii maos from Naa Huek up the road).

Interesting thing is that Prem was originally pitched as a sort of housing complex scam. I obtained the prospectus in both the English version and the Thai version around 1990. It was meant to attract spoiled little brats from Bangkok who were getting in trouble. So daddy was suppose to buy a home in the complex which gave one the priveledge of enrolling your nuu in the school, have taa-yai stay in the house or maybe the mother while dad stayed with mia noi in Bangkok, and thus get their little nuu out of Bangkok to safer environs. Clearly the original scam did not work and a more honest educational institution took root.

Happy Trails

Johpa

[Cabana]

Thanks a million to everyone who posted here its made my task of finding a school in CM a synch. My only issue is that, assuming I go for PREM and that seems logical if u dont need to be in town, and find a house to rent as near to the school as possible, it seems I will have to drive my youngest daughter a fair distance to the nearest kindergarten as PREM dont start until 3 years plus (she is 1 years old). Anyone in a similar situation?

[jomama]

It is my understanding that Prem has not been accredited by an external auditing commission (such as WASC). I could be wrong, but I've been told that the IB program is a Swiss-based for-profit operation that will allow its program to be used so long as the money is paid (meaning no outside audit). As well, many of the teachers at Prem are "interns" -- young men and women who have bachelor's degrees but no teaching certificate and little experience.

While the school has been very successful in putting a good face on everything, I question whether they indeed can "walk the walk." There is some question also about whether all parents are paying the same fees.

They sent a flyer out last spring to the other international schools promoting their summer program, saying the schools could tell the parents one fee and then get part of the money back in their own (school's) pocket. Is that a finder's fee or a kickback? Not a very professional thing to do, asking other schools to mislead their own parents...

Just some food for thought if you're going to ask questions ...