I am very satisfied with Benedictine International School. They are a mix of traditional and progressive. Traditional because they offer the traditional subjects plus Mandarin which they start teaching at 1st grade. They have homeworks and a traditional grading system. Progressive because they allow the kids enough space to express themselves even during classes - and I like that. I don't like the idea of "suppressing a child". I think allowing kids to express themselves actually help them bring out the best from within. Their doors are also open to kids with "challenges". These aspects of help a lot in character building. To me, school is academics + athletics + character & personality development. My child does not label another child because of the "color of his skin". She also does not see anything wrong with kids who have "challenges". She merely sees other kids as schoolmates and/or friends.
We moved back to the Philippines from the States 2-years ago and one thing I like about the school is the cultural mix. We are, after all, living in a "global community" right now and children have to be raised nowadays as "global citizens". The cultural mix, I think, is vital in character development. Most of the foreign students are Koreans, yes, but we don't see anything wrong with that. Some of our child's closest friends are in fact Koreans. The schools population is a mix of Filipinos, [textspeak!]-Ams, [textspeak!]-Chinese, Koreans, Chinese, etc.
My daughter just turned 7 a few months ago and will be in 2nd Grade at the start of the new schoolyear on June 2012. She is thriving in the school, both in academics and in athletics. Of course, that makes us very happy. I think every parent would be happy if their child is in the top level of their class, right?
I also like the fact that their class sizes are small, 15 usually, because you get your money's worth since the a teacher would be more effective dealing with 15 students than with 40. Their tuition fee is almost the same as that of other well-known and long-established exclusive schools like those 2 located in Katipunan Avenue. But this school's class size is smaller than that of those other schools that have 30-40 per class. I basically divided the tuition fee by the number of students to find out the "money value" that our child is getting. Example. P80T divided by 15 students versus P80T divided by 40 students. You do the math.
The administration too has been very supportive of our young child's very very young athletic career. She competes in age-group and inter-school swimming. The school endorsed our child as their official rep in an inter-school swim meet where, as a 6-year old in October 2011, she gained tremendous experience competing against 12 year old grade-school athletes from other schools. For an athlete, experience in major competitions is very important because it brings out the best in them since they are competing against "the best of the best".
Of course, every school has its own share of imperfections. Even the academic standards of the best universities go up-and-down. What's important is that you see that the school is doing something to either uplift their standards or "regain it's previous glory". On a personal note, it would really make me happy if they started teaching "Singapore math". I also am hoping that they build a stronger sports program. They may only have a covered court (not a gym) and no swimming pool right now but these can simply addressed through an arrangment with the nearby sports club. An auditorium would also be a welcome addition.
Some might argue that some of the students in this school are transferees from other bigger and long-established schools. But I will also argue that it is a fact that some of the students from this school (some were not even at the top of their class) have also transferred to those same bigger and long-established schools.
And one more thing I like about this school is that the owners themselves are personally and actively involved in running the school. That shows their concern in building the school's reputation and maintaining/uplifting the school's standards. Their presence and active participation also makes them fully aware of the changes or improvements that might be needed by the school.
As a final note, if you were to ask me to rate my satifaction of the school on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I would say "8".
