Commuting Times

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
  1. #11

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    1,072

    Maybe you should list all the schools you have contacted here and there may be someone who can suggest one you have missed out.


  2. #12
    inprov
    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Condoms next time?
    He already had a vasectomy... I cannot help being so irresistible

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    1,002

    Welcome to the fold Inprov ! Nice to see a good comeback to PDLM who can be a total pain in the neck at times !

    I don't have children so not much help but good luck.

    Last edited by goodkarma; 15-10-2006 at 04:41 AM. Reason: spelling

  4. #14
    inprov

    Schools that I have contacted-
    (I prefer schools north of Pokfulam and in Kowloon Tong, but am open to any)

    American Int'l School- My first choice. They are going to take the entrance exam in November. How difficult is admission for American citizens? Do my kids have a chance?

    Kellett School- no space for younger daughter-would make eldest skip a grade

    Australian School- No space- long wait list

    Chinese International School- Seems very rigorous, currently full and very pricey

    GSIS- I cannot remember whatthey said, but there was a reason that I did not proceed

    HKIS- We are Jewish
    Carmel School- yes, we are Jewish, but I want my kids to be global citizens and I think a religious school would be limiting, so no I say.
    French School- No spaces and that huge deposit is a scam!
    Delia School- unknown

    Int'l Montessori School- expensive and small, but we are applying. very vague about whether or not they have spots for the girls.

    Kiangsu & Chekiang Primary School- Seems okay, what does everyone think? Currentlyy, they have no space for my older daughter... also very cheap.

    Kingston International Primary School- They have not responded to my inquiry. What does anyone know about this school?


  5. #15

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    15

    IMS additional info

    Inprov, we too are applying to IMS for our 4 1/2 year old daughter. She currently attends a Montessori school here in the DC area and we love it. Here's what I've been told about the school from folks who's kids were there for two years or so (they were just transferred to Beijing recently)...

    "IMS is located in Wanchai, very near Pacific Place and within a five minute taxi ride of most Central or Wanchai offices. In fact, the location in the increasingly upmarket area is what kept me sane
    during our two years there. It is the school with the full-time English and Chinese teachers. All the teachers are fantastic. That said, and I write this in confidence, the relationship between the administration (two fantastic-as-people but not trained Montessori teachers) and the teachers has always been strained. Last year two of the six teachers left the school rather than put up with the micromanagement. The teachers' professionalism prevents most parents from seeing this tension, but you should know it's there. Other issues which may concern you are the absence of an outdoor play area and lack of a music teacher. Most Asian parents love the Montessori concept at the preschool level but send their kids to other international schools once the children reach kindergarten age. Our older son did very well at the elementary level.

    That said, we loved the school for our seven and four year-old boys. IMS follows a strict Montessori curriculum. We wanted a small school where everyone knew our children and we, the parents, could find like-minded people our age. We got all of that at IMS."

    Hope this helps.


  6. #16

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    1,072

    here are a few that may help

    http://www.education18.com/item10/1009/1009main.htm

    It is a list of English speaking schools (not necessarily ESF). You have already contacted some of them, but there are still more out there - whether or not they fit your restricted criteria I have no idea.

    I do have friends who have sent their children to ShaTin Junior School(and then Sha Tin College), but as far as I am aware this is an ESF school, so maybe not what you are after.

    Either way Sha Tin is only 10 minute train journey from Kowloon Tong and much more convenient than somewhere such as Pok Fu Lam.

    Anyway, hope it is some help.

  7. #17
    inprov

    Pokfulam and areas south seem so much nicer for families. How long would the commute be to ShaTin? Do I sound like a broken record? I am upping my housing budget to 50k now for the 5 of us plus a DH. I hope this will be good enough. Will we be okay with no car?


  8. #18

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Park Island
    Posts
    2,057

    Red face

    Not sure how old are your kids. The question you should be asking yourself is that, 'are you going to be able to deal with your kids without a car?' Have to warn you, the trains can be very very crowded most of the times. Taxis are great but I'm not sure what's the max number of people that they'll take. But having said that, I'll never drive in HK. It can be scary!


  9. #19

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    35

    When we were looking for a place in August we needed something convenient to Central and Shenzhen due to me and girlfriend's job locations. We ended up narrowing down to Tai Po Market area and Yuen Long. While in the end we chose Yuen Long (Fairview Estates) b/c really great bus service to Central and Shang Shui, I did see that Tai Po has a similar housing estate, albeit pretty pricey. Not sure if it fits your budget, but at 40-50k I would guess so. Tai Po is not far at all from Shatin, also easy by train to SZ Luohu border. As for HK Island, it's not great given having to switch from KCR to MTR, but it's also not terrible if you're just going there occasionally for shopping and fun.
    Check out Hong Lok Yuen Estates.


  10. #20

    hi, it's great that you will be able to come first and scout around for schools and a residence. it does seem though that since your husband will be working in shatin and commuting to shenzhen regularly that the best bet for you to live would be the kowloon tong area or hong lok yuen in tai po. hong lok yuen has a large expat community, clubhouse etc...and i am sure it would be easy to make friends there for both you and your kids. they have a feeder bus to tai wo station that takes less than 5 minutes and the train to shatin would be only 20 minutes max.
    ok, now with schools, it would be very hard at this stage to get into esf schools and/or elite private international schools such as gsis and so on. i have heard of the ais in kowloon tong but unfortunately they haven't been very positive things. i don't have first hand experience so just generalising on what i have heard from a number of people so maybe you would need to take a look and use your own discretion. another choice would be 'renaissance college' in ma on shan near shatin. this was previously a canadian international school but has now reverted and offers the 'ib' programme for the younger form students. i am not sure if that is recognised in the us yet. it is now also part of the esf. as i recall, the fees were approx. 7k per month if that helps. good luck!