Quality of IB Program at Prem/PTIS - Looking for Parent Opinions

[SweCM1]

We are considering to send our child to Prem/PTIS. We like the idea of a IB school with a strong focus on nature and sports. However we are not sure about the quality of the academics -especially in the higher year levels. From our research it appears that Prem falls behind in the IB results compared to other IB schools in Bangkok.

My wife and myself would love to hear from parents at Prem what they feel about the school in general and the academics in particular. This would help us extremely in our decision. Thank You!

[Oscar2]

i could be wrong but i doubt you will find any "Prem parents" on this board.

[AJ Alex]

I don't have kids but I've been teaching (in good schools) for years in the UK and Thailand. If you have the money go to PREM or APIS. If I had kids I would not send them to BKK because I don't like the city. Chaing Mai is a unique and wonderful place. It has it's problems like everywhere, but I would happily recommend most of the Intl schools in CM, especially PREM and APIS. I have never seen any schools in BKK but I have seen all the schools in CM. All the teachers have their quals and experience online so that should help you make the right decision. Hope this helps :-)

[Ricardo]

i could be wrong but i doubt you will find any "Prem parents" on this board.

Sorry, but you're wrong.

Previous threads (there are several) about Chiang Mai international-schools have shown that ThaiVisa has a wide range of posters and experience and opinions.

[mcm991]

I have 3 young kids at Prem.

Academics are not as strong as strong as some of the BKK IB schools..... that is for sure.

But ... this is CM - not BKK. And have you looked at the school fees that some of the top Bangkok IB schools are charging? Easily double that of Prem.

Some of the Prem teachers are excellent... a few only average.... IMO the fault of the school employing so many husband and wife teams where one may be outstanding but it is cheaper to employ both as a package.

The campus is beautiful and we love this part of the city. We just have to augment the academics when required. The kids are all very happy there.

There will be a new Head of School and also a new Jr. School Principal arriving at the start of the next year (Aug). I'm hopeful that some of the academic issues will be addressed by the new leadership.

MCM.

PM me if you want more details.

[Thighlander]

I knew someone, who taught there, that would not have been certifiable in the US. Probably a decent teacher, though. If they are going to University; where they went to high school doesn't mean squat. If you have money to burn, go for it, otherwise one of the less gold plated international schools will be fine, and save the $$$ for college. I've met some quality students from Prince's Royal College, and Grace and LIST seemed OK, too.

Tuition where Obama sends his daughters runs 35OOO us per year. That's on some of the most expensive real estate in the world. What's Prem running nowadays?

Edited June 12, 2014 by Thighlander

[tangcoral]

Prem cost roughly 350K per a year for grade school, 500k for middle years and 550K for highschool years.

[Dante99]

I have 3 young kids at Prem.

Academics are not as strong as strong as some of the BKK IB schools..... that is for sure.

But ... this is CM - not BKK. And have you looked at the school fees that some of the top Bangkok IB schools are charging? Easily double that of Prem.

Some of the Prem teachers are excellent... a few only average.... IMO the fault of the school employing so many husband and wife teams where one may be outstanding but it is cheaper to employ both as a package.

The campus is beautiful and we love this part of the city. We just have to augment the academics when required. The kids are all very happy there.

There will be a new Head of School and also a new Jr. School Principal arriving at the start of the next year (Aug). I'm hopeful that some of the academic issues will be addressed by the new leadership.

MCM.

PM me if you want more details.

There has been repeatedly hope that new principals and heads of school will resolve issues, each time beginning with a brief flourish and ending without significant improvements in academics. They have never hired highly qualified and experienced people and given them enough budget, responsibility and freedom to get it together. It is a long term issue that requires significant funding to resolve.

Prem is in many ways a failed real estate development. A walk around to see all the incomplete buildings standing vacant for almost 20 years tells a story.

[mcm991]

I'm not sure I agree with your assessment. There is a vocal group here in CM who love to bash Prem. Some of the critisism is IMO deserved and some not.

I do not believe that funding in general is an issue. Perhaps allocation of capital is a better way of framing it.

There certainly are a number of well qualified and experienced staff at the school who are very effective in the classroom. The nature of an (expensive) International school in a comparatively small market like CM creates its own set of problems. The pressure to admit students from cashed up Chinese, Korean and Thai families can cause issues with teaching a demanding curriculum in English.

I make sure that my kids are independantly tested every year to International benchmarks and happy to report that they are well ahead of the curve. So, the belief that Prem can't do anything right is clearly not the case.

But... I have also had my fair share of 'issues' with the administration.

MCM.

(The school was originally designed as a Thai School -pre Asian crisis... for a much larger number of students. The IB incarnation is more recent.... and will never approach the numbers initially conceived)