Berkeley Int'l school. Is it as good as BPS or other int'l school?

[Nepal4me]

Berkeley has a steep entrance and tuition discount as they are a new school. The tuition discount continues as long as the kids stay in the school, that means a huge discount for the next 12 years for my kids.

I wonder how good int'l schools are compared to each other. Berkeley is very new so its graduate class hasn't happened yet to give perspective. I have heard that all the big school, RIS, ISB, BPS, Shrewsbury, Harrow etc have similar scores at the end of high school. Is there a source to check the performance of all these schools?

I'm considering Berkeley mostly because of the lower cost, it will have similar prices to other "big" int'l schools in another year or so but since it's still new the price is very attractive.

Thoughts....

[Nepal4me]

Any thoughts on Berkeley out there???

[NanLaew]

Hard to gauge since as you say, it is new so there won't be many with an opinion. Maybe pop a question asking about the teaching experience in the Teaching forum? The only real measurement right now is the teachers experience with the admin and how their classroom experience has worked out. Happy teachers generally make a better school with the obvious caveat that this is indeed Thailand.

[jacky54]

Used to live almost next to it, if I were sending a kid to a School in the area Pattana would be my choice. My mrs applied for a post at Berkeley and they never even replied.

[Nepal4me]

C'mon folks. Somebody must have had experiences at Berkely.

Help me out here!!

[kurnell]

I know they discount

[Nepal4me]

Nothing???

Nobody knows???

[Laughing Gravy]

OK, firstly they are two completely different schools. One using/following the English curriculum, The other an American curriculum, I believe. Discussing that on its own would keep you busy for days. I guess you want a straight answer and everyone has a different opinions. My choice would not be a nice looking building as the important factor for the education of children. The teachers, the curriculum, how the schools is managed, the performance, the suitability of your child to the schools ethos and philosophy, class sizes, assessments and the relationship the school has with parents. There are more factors but these few should help you choose. I know people who have children at both schools. Hearing from them then I would stick with BPS etc

[Nepal4me]

Thank you for your response.

I could care less that Berkeley looks nice. Of course the other issues you mention are the ones to consider.

BPS or ISB or Harrow or Shrewsbury are all in the 700 to 800,000 baht per year. Berkeley is 600,000 AND is offering a half price discount i.e sub 300,000/year... this discount continues for the full duration of your time in their school i.e. start in K this year and you're still getting the half price rate 12 years later. BPS/ISB etc are super costly, especially for multiple children. So saying "BPS would be my choice" isn't really helpful.

My question is really: Does ISB or BPS or other really provide a substantive additional benefit to these other high priced schools like Harrow or RIS? For example if a kid is smart, he should flourish in any decent school, so might Berkeley be "decent" enough? My kids are quite "normal". Enjoy sports, decent grades, interact with other kids well.

Is there any evidence that any one of these high priced school actually provide a better education than another one? Would ISB be better than any other US style school? Would BPS really be better than Harrow? When you finish G12 or Yr13, you then go to Uni. Do they really care if you went to ISB or Berkeley? BPS or Harrow?

And really, US vs. UK type of school. If the school is IB then does it really matter? Couldn't an ISB or a BPS kid get into a Uni in the US or the UK if they had similar marks and displayed similar qualities?

OK, firstly they are two completely different schools. One using/following the English curriculum, The other an American curriculum, I believe. Discussing that on its own would keep you busy for days. I guess you want a straight answer and everyone has a different opinions. My choice would not be a nice looking building as the important factor for the education of children. The teachers, the curriculum, how the schools is managed, the performance, the suitability of your child to the schools ethos and philosophy, class sizes, assessments and the relationship the school has with parents. There are more factors but these few should help you choose. I know people who have children at both schools. Hearing from them then I would stick with BPS etc

[Laughing Gravy]

Thank you for your response.

I could care less that Berkeley looks nice. Of course the other issues you mention are the ones to consider.

BPS or ISB or Harrow or Shrewsbury are all in the 700 to 800,000 baht per year. Berkeley is 600,000 AND is offering a half price discount i.e sub 300,000/year... this discount continues for the full duration of your time in their school i.e. start in K this year and you're still getting the half price rate 12 years later. BPS/ISB etc are super costly, especially for multiple children. So saying "BPS would be my choice" isn't really helpful.

My question is really: Does ISB or BPS or other really provide a substantive additional benefit to these other high priced schools like Harrow or RIS? For example if a kid is smart, he should flourish in any decent school, so might Berkeley be "decent" enough? My kids are quite "normal". Enjoy sports, decent grades, interact with other kids well.

Is there any evidence that any one of these high priced school actually provide a better education than another one? Would ISB be better than any other US style school? Would BPS really be better than Harrow? When you finish G12 or Yr13, you then go to Uni. Do they really care if you went to ISB or Berkeley? BPS or Harrow?

And really, US vs. UK type of school. If the school is IB then does it really matter? Couldn't an ISB or a BPS kid get into a Uni in the US or the UK if they had similar marks and displayed similar qualities?

OK, firstly they are two completely different schools. One using/following the English curriculum, The other an American curriculum, I believe. Discussing that on its own would keep you busy for days. I guess you want a straight answer and everyone has a different opinions. My choice would not be a nice looking building as the important factor for the education of children. The teachers, the curriculum, how the schools is managed, the performance, the suitability of your child to the schools ethos and philosophy, class sizes, assessments and the relationship the school has with parents. There are more factors but these few should help you choose. I know people who have children at both schools. Hearing from them then I would stick with BPS etc

Just to add to that a bit more. I agree I couldn't care less if the building looks nice but that is certainly something that Berkeley are promoting. Also using the name Berkeley, I assumed was to somehow link it to Berkeley in the US, which it is not. It certainly doesn't have a reputation for good or outstanding academic results as it hasn't been around much. So why isn't BPS being my choice isn't really helpful. I thought from my post you may have worked out what I was saying, without flaming the school.

I will be ultra clear then. Berkeley are not in the same league as the other schools for all of the reasons mentioned academically. To answer another question, is there any evidence that the other schools are better than Berkeley. ask for the results. Also to answer whether UK or US curriculums, that questions warrants a very in depth reply. Depending on the US state curriculum used it is like 'chalk and cheese'.

I think you have answered your own question in some respects. Regarding the price, does the other schools offer a better education. Well in my opinion definitely. If you are asking will they (your children) still get a good education at Berkeley, maybe.

[Nepal4me]

Thai Visa,

Ok, this will be my last attempt at it. I'm considering Berkeley mostly because I can afford to put multiple kids into it given the 50% discount.

BUT..................

I would love to get some feedback on whether it's a decent school or not. Any teachers, parents out there that have any input on this.

Somebody out there must have some information on the school.

Please............

[Laughing Gravy]

Thai Visa,

Ok, this will be my last attempt at it. I'm considering Berkeley mostly because I can afford to put multiple kids into it given the 50% discount.

BUT..................

I would love to get some feedback on whether it's a decent school or not. Any teachers, parents out there that have any input on this.

Somebody out there must have some information on the school.

Please............

I really was trying to help. As you have made clear about the financial incentive then I would ask all the questions that I mentioned previously to do with good schooling. As you will be signing a contract with the school if you join, ask them about them agreeing to terms and conditions for you regarding the quality of education. Good luck anyway.

[Baa_Mango]

Not great when comparing with those schools.

Its 3 years old - still getting established. Owner is a rich guy who started the school for a laugh cause he studied at.. Berkley .. is the son of the owner of the Summit group. My ex was doing some of the hiring and sorting of cv's and what not. And considering that - ha warning lights !

Its not terrible but I know some people who were hired + fired from there. Benefits include the location.