Big school diemma: Miriam Grade School or ICA Greenhills?

[tin5716]

Some of my daughter's classmates transferred to ICA this year. Cheaper daw kasi plus they're Chinese so mas pabor sa kanila because of the Chinese curriculum.

Sabi nila if hindi daw Chinese, malakas daw discrimination sa ICA, how true?

not true about the discrimination part.. i had around 10-20 filipino batch mates and they blended well. in fact my filipino classmates were loved since they were chosen as leaders in our class.

[pilates]

Magaling ba magconverse in english ang mga taga ica? I mean like at par with poveda or csa, yung fluent talaga magenglish?

[raine123]

yes. icans can speak english very well. they are at par, if not even better than other all girl schools. a lot of alumnis are established entrepreneurs. they speak straight english without any artes. graduates of ica are mostly built to be business women. mslow key [textspeak!] ica kc they focus on academics than extra curricular activities pero for me, top school ica among the exclusive girl schools... they are somewhat sister schools with xavier.

[alianna22]

I believe that the majority of ICAns graduate with excellent English communication skills. Whenever the Guidance department gives standardized tests like the CEM or NAT, ICAns generally score 99 percentile in the English sections of exams. If you ask me the real problem is our nonexistent Filipino skills. ICAns can choose to switch between fluent English and street Taglish depending to the situation they are in, but Filipino??? Rare gift.It's probably the reason why there are more ICAns in Ateneo than in UP. Entrance exams of Ateneo do not require Filipino sections. It's true that ICA's curriculum is mostly on academics but in the ICA high school extra curricular activities are taken very seriously by the students without much encouragement from the teachers. It's really about forming the students into finding their own passion. The girls who are able to do that are the ones who go abroad and compete in many debate and sport and academic competitions.

[tinapa]

Hello! Hmmm...I was a Miriam student from CSC until high school. That was years and years ago, but even then bullying was already common. I myself was a victim of bullying. I was a pretty easy target kasi; I was quiet and shy, and when I was in grade school I was a pretty dismal student din, so I guess the more aggressive girls thought that gave them the right to pick on me. You cannot
single out Miriam though for bullying. I am pretty sure that happens at any school. As for the girls that don't seem to have manners and hindi pino kumilos, like what Sis Marose had mentioned, I also
saw some girls like that na taga Poveda. One of them was with her Mother pa, and I just found it
so strange, kasi the Mom seemed so prim and proper naman and her daughter was the complete opposite. Bottomline is, I think it all boils down to our parenting skills.

I am biased though, because of my experiences with Miriam, I really have no desire to let my daughter study there even if it were the last all-girls school on earth. I may be exaggerating, but nakakatrauma talaga ang nagiging victim ng bullying. One thing I did notice though, I was no longer picked on when I learned to stand up for myself. I guess the bullies lost interest because they saw that they couldn't hurt me anymore. But it really depends din kasi on the student. My Ate had no trouble at school. She practically had the best time of her life at Miriam. Malas lang siguro ako nun.

i am from miriam too, csc - hs, and i don't recommend it. i will never send my daughter there. poveda or ica would be a better choice for your daughter.

[tinmuning]

^Care to share why?

[tinapa]

hmm... hindi maganda yung school facilities, too much homework everyday (for a kid), you could get high grades kung magaling ka magmemorize, which does not necessarily mean you understand the lesson...
too many children in 1 class room, almost 50 ata kami non.. very hard to concentrate kasi ang init sa classroom, may mga nagffaint pa, 2 ceiling fans lang for that many people, sa auditoriums overcrowded na, bad ventilation pa... mas marami nagffaint dito.. etc. araw araw ako may dalang maliit na paypay kasi sobrang init. This school is just too cramped, they accepted too many kids for limited facilities, tapos and taas ng sinisingil nila na tuition. too many to mention ata yung complaints ko kung isusulat ko lahat hehe..

nung time ko, meron silang parang honor's class, nilalagay nila lahat ng mataas na grades sa batch don,  they get special or extra lessons so mas advanced sila, compared to the rest of the batch, meaning they have an edge during  college entrance exams because they learned some things that the rest of the batch did not... that's unfair to the others, everyone should be treated the same or have access to the same kind of lessons. i don't think other parents would appreciate it that they pay the same amount of tuition while other kids get access to advanced lessons. if the school wanted to give extra lessons, they could make it voluntary based on those who want to learn more than what is standard, especially before college entrance tests.

anyway, this is one of the worst memories from my childhood, sobrang saya ko nakaalis ako don and i never want to go back hehe.. siguro iba experience ng ibang tao, pero for me, i want something better for my kids.

hindi naman negative lahat about this school, yung positive lang na naaalala ko, masarap [textspeak!] yung siomai nila na with quail egg sa cafeteria, the only reason i want to visit the school again hehe 

[Babe323]

Hi. I was from Miriam's honors class and its not true we got special treatment. It was actually just a math and science class, meaning our lessons were the same with the other sections but on a faster pace. If I'll be sending my daughter to a tradtional school I'd choose Miriam. Biased I know, but my best years were in Miriam. Majority of my classmates went to UP or ateneo for college. Some, from the other sections, were able to make it also. One characteristic that i love so much, is the mixture of social classes.

I had friends in college who came from ICA and they were also competetive. I think both schools are great.

[binggay]

In my opinion, LAHAT ng schools ay may plus-minus.

Those who give negative feedback are probably those who did not get to enjoy their years there. Yung iba naman, ok, happy, so positive feedback.

My daughter attends Miriam Grade School now, she's in Grade 1. There are only 30 students in a class, so still not overcrowded in my opinion. Yung Atenista ko 45 sila sa klase, pero he still thrives and is a consistent honor student. So sometimes it also depends on the kid.

Ang masasabi ko na lang between these 2 choices, these 2 schools still are among the best around, compared to the other hundreds lesser known schools. I know a lot of graduates of both schools get into the best colleges also, eh yun naman ang habol nating mommies di ba, that they get the best primary school education, to get into the best colleges.

Ang sa akin lang, kung itong dalawa din lang pagpipilian, then weigh in also on what will be more practical and convenient also.

[tinmuning]

Sorry if I was not able to give an update. I'm thankful for all the replies in this thread. However, my husband and I decided to enroll our daughter in Miriam College. She's currently in their afternoon Grade 1 session. She's enjoying it so far. As for the homeworks, almost everyday may things to read or answer pero I don't feel it's too much naman for the kid.

[binggay]

^ Hi sis, sayang morning section naman yung daughter ko. She's enjoying Miriam so far, too. Her teacher's super nice also, pero very young pa. She recently attended the 7th bday of a new classmate and she was so happy. Sana tuloy-tuloy na.

[sachism]

Ang mahaaaal! Yeah mas mura nga tuition in ICA than Miriam.

How much sa ICA sis?

[tinmuning]

How much sa ICA sis?

I can only speak for Grade 1 tuition fee as I inquired about it last year. It's 74,000.

[sachism]

I can only speak for Grade 1 tuition fee as I inquired about it last year. It's 74,000.

so mga 40 students din ito sis sa isang class? ilang taon dapat para mag grade 1 sis?

[Chloe_804]

this year it's already 82k+, close to 92k with books and supplies.
35-40 students per class

[tinapa]

In my opinion, LAHAT ng schools ay may plus-minus.

Those who give negative feedback are probably those who did not get to enjoy their years there. Yung iba naman, ok, happy, so positive feedback.

My daughter attends Miriam Grade School now, she's in Grade 1. There are only 30 students in a class, so still not overcrowded in my opinion. Yung Atenista ko 45 sila sa klase, pero he still thrives and is a consistent honor student. So sometimes it also depends on the kid.

Ang masasabi ko na lang between these 2 choices, these 2 schools still are among the best around, compared to the other hundreds lesser known schools. I know a lot of graduates of both schools get into the best colleges also, eh yun naman ang habol nating mommies di ba, that they get the best primary school education, to get into the best colleges.

Ang sa akin lang, kung itong dalawa din lang pagpipilian, then weigh in also on what will be more practical and convenient also.

30 nalang in a class now? nung time ko umaabot pa kaming 47 ah.. maybe less people enroll in miriam now.

[smoothie]

^no sis. school mismo ang nag-implement nun. they've also adopted the some new rules like no 3 long tests, less homeworks on weekends, etc. ( medyo nakalimutan ko na)

[binggay]

30 nalang in a class now? nung time ko umaabot pa kaming 47 ah.. maybe less people enroll in miriam now.

For how many sections? I think they added sections to spread the population per class para hindi crowded.

[hazelnutduchess]

not true about the discrimination part.. i had around 10-20 filipino batch mates and they blended well. in fact my filipino classmates were loved since they were chosen as leaders in our class.

Can I weigh in? I agree that I don't think Filipino classmates will be discriminated against in ICA, but I think that a preference for a Chinese partner or spouse is more pervasive there than in other Chinese schools. I have a very close ICAn friend (and lots of other ICAn friends) that I find have a double standard when it comes to discrimination. Nothing against having them as friends, but really mahigpit when it comes to having a Chinese partner, which for me is a slight form of bigotry. I'm not saying this is a fault of the school. It's mostly a family thing and it depends in the family, but it's a greater trend in this school so I guess that takes an effect on the person studying there too. Take note that I myself am half Chinese. My mom was "pure" Chinese but I am slightly offended by this double standard. Sa Miriam naman, I agree din na maganda ang mix dito socio-economically. This means that your kids may have a wider variety of friends across economic classes, and take that as you will na lang for the development of their worldview and lifestyle. These are observations on the social trends in these schools, so disregard na lang my observations if hindi naman issue yung mga ganitong bagay in choosing a school.

Academics-wise, ICA produces excellent students. Masipag; they really know how to work hard, although they did have their good times naman in high school. Sa Miriam, they also produce graduates that get into top-tier schools. Malalaking 'supplier' ng students namin sa Ateneo ang ICA and Miriam and you really can't go wrong with those if yun ang habol niyo (admission to top-tier schools). Pansin ko lang na in the course of college, yung classmates ko 'nun from Miriam, mas practical with their knowledge whereas ang ICA magaling talaga sa theory. I guess it also depends sa kids natin kung paano rin ang disposition nila.

[klee]

^I'm an ICAn graduate here and I just want to clear the misconception that kids who study in ICA will be fluent in Mandarin when they graduate. It's true that we have Chinese classes until 4th year high school but it's only 1 subject per day. Unlike other more traditional Chinese schools who have around 3 or more Chinese subjects every day. The focus kasi is not conversation but more on memorization. I had excellent grades in Chinese but I cannot converse with people using Mandarin especially since we don't use this language at home. If you send your kids to ICA and want them to be fluent in Mandarin, it would be better if they will also practice speaking Mandarin regularly outside school. Some of my schoolmates even went on China and Taiwan tours so they can learn how to converse in Mandarin.

It's also not true that there's racial discrimination there because Chinese are more particular about those things when it comes to choosing partners. Generally, Chinese families are okay with their kids having non Chinese friends as long as they come from decent families naman.

But I would agree that the English curriculum here is excellent. To a certain extent, peer pressure also contributes to this. When I was younger, we would pay attention to the diction and subject verb agreement of our classmates.