Big school diemma: Miriam Grade School or ICA Greenhills?

[tinmuning]

Hi. I'm on a hunt for a big school for my daughter, incoming Grade 1 next SY. I've narrowed down my choices between ICA Greenhills and Miriam College.

Miriam is nearer our place, but traffic in Katipunan is horrendous. Tuition is more expensive than ICA.

ICA is farther, but this is along the way of my husband going to work. Traffic is as horrendous as Katipunan. Plus factor of the school is its inclusion of Mandarin lessons (although not enough to become fluent) in its curriculum.

Can anyone give feedbacks on the 2 schools mentioned?

[prettycha]

I have mixed feedbacks on miriam.  For Grade 1 they have 4 hours of school and 8 subjects; making it 30 minutes per subject.  Naturally, tons of assignments is expected.  Turn off talaga sa akin ang maraming assignments,  I find it tamad on the teacher's part.  Parents will end up the one studying. : )  It's ok if you have lots of assignments but pls give naman more school hours para polishing na lang sa house.  This is just my opinion sis ha since I am also considering Miriam.  You may also want to try out The Learning Tree (Sikatuna Village), St. Paul Pasig and yes ICA

[binggay]

Sis, how much ang tuition sa Miriam? And ICA? My daughter will be prep by next year, and I am starting to scout for schools na pang-grade 1. I am also leaning towards Miriam and would like to hear as much feedback as possible.

Thanks!

[tinmuning]

I have mixed feedbacks on miriam.  For Grade 1 they have 4 hours of school and 8 subjects; making it 30 minutes per subject.  Naturally, tons of assignments is expected.  Turn off talaga sa akin ang maraming assignments,  I find it tamad on the teacher's part.  Parents will end up the one studying. : )  It's ok if you have lots of assignments but pls give naman more school hours para polishing na lang sa house.  This is just my opinion sis ha since I am also considering Miriam.  You may also want to try out The Learning Tree (Sikatuna Village), St. Paul Pasig and yes ICA

Thanks prettycha. Yun din yung fear ko e, that my kid will be loaded with assignments. Kaya nga initially I want Poveda kasi they don't give assignments to the kids. Kaso it's way too expensive na. Kaya namin pero parang super pilit na. Sana may mag-post pa ng feedback on the 2 schools.

[prettycha]

sis tinmuning, Poveda I think is a progressive school kaya konti ang assignments. : )  Have you heard of The Learning Tree?  Very good feedbacks.  Products of their elementary dept (they do not have hs dept) do well in big schools when they reach hs

[tinmuning]

yes I've heard of The Learning Tree. Kaso out of the way and mas gusto ko pa rin sana yung school with decades of experience na. I'm hoping someone will post about ICA para maka-decide na ako once and for all.

[trinity94]

i worked in ICA with a group for a special project... grabe ang mga students dun, they speak like Kris Aquino!... well, at least cute pa silang pakinggan kasi bagay sa age nila, and that includes kids from gr 4 and higher... i also saw with my own two eyes how one of the nuns berated a student right at the hallway for wearing the wrong uniform (or something like that), and at another time, a teacher got a good scolding in front of her students...

outside the classrooms, there's an attendance board that tells how many students are present, but also includes the names of latecomers and how many times theyve been late for the week... also on the list is a list of infractions committed by the students, e.g. no notebook, dirty nails, etc... sabi nga ng isang kasama ko, it's like the typical nun-run school na sobrang uptight ang environment so the students turn out to be really stuck up and bratty...

and since a church separates Xavier and ICA, ginagawa nilang meeting place ang church... (i think bawal yata sunduin yung girls sa may gate mismo ng school nila)

as for miriam, mas relaxed ang environment nila... i have a friend who works in GS admin, and tho' she complains of hectic skeds, wala daw syang problem sa mga administrators...

[tinmuning]

^What year is this, sis? Recently lang?

[trinity94]

^yup, very recently...

[prettycha]

siguro let's put it this way na lang.  In every situation/thing each has a side story to tell.  So depends na lang on our individual experiences.

[trinity94]

in fairness to ICA, academics-wise okay naman daw sya... same with miriam, they both produce quality students and graduates...

[marose17]

I live near Miriam and I'm not so impressed with some, not all ha, of the students I see hanging around Petron La Vista or Starbucks in Katipunan.  Unlike Maryknoll before, parang hindi na yata ganoon ka-careful sa student selection ang Miriam.  I do not want to discriminate but may ibang hindi pino kumilos, parang hindi taga-all girls' school.  Important sa akin ang aspect na ito because even if you instill in your children good manners, proper behavior and the right values, if they hang around other kids with not so good manners and values, baka ma-influence sila. 

And, my gosh, may bullies na sa MC sa preschool pa lang.  One of the kids in my sons' preschool transferred from CSC (Miriam's preschool) because she was being bullied every day.  Even though nakabayad na ang parents niya for the whole semester, they pulled out their kid last August kasi hindi sila satisfied sa pag-address ng teacher sa issue ng bullying.  I don't know the details but suffice it to say that the parents said their kid was traumatized by the bullying.

Having said that, I have friends who send their kids to Miriam and happy naman sila at ang kids nila sa school.  Wala naman silang complaint as far as I know.  Well, hindi ko rin kasi masyadong inusisa kasi I don't have a daughter.

So, it really depends if your child and the school are a good fit.  Nowadays, I've noticed that several parents have chosen lesser-known schools with excellent teachers and non-traditional teaching methods over the bigger names.  Karamihan sa mga kaibigan ko who took the road less travelled told me that they think that their children will thrive more in the smaller school than in the established traditional school.

[tinmuning]

Oh no, the feedbacks are making me more confused haha. Thanks everyone who replied. I hope a parent sending their daughters on the said school would give feedback too

[bellapot]

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.

[tinmuning]

Curious lang ako, what type of bullying occurs in an all-girls school? I came from one myself but I never experienced it.

[smoothie]

I'm also a true blue Knoller. Like sis bellapot, I did experience getting bullied twice. I was in grade 6 at that time & they were a group of grade 7 students (their "leader" was actually a quite popular person now). The reason, they saw me talking to a group of boys and one of them was Dingdong Dantes. (hehe! seriously, ni hindi nga niya ako pinansin) So when I went back to go home, I passed by their place & they started calling me "landi". Then after that, our school had our annual fair, I passed by their booth. Tapos yung girl na instigator, told their leader that I was looking at their booth in a very bad way. So when they started to bully me, I told my mom. She was there at that time, then she told my teacher. My teacher scolded them and it stopped.

The second one was my classmate, I don't remember what caused it but it eventually stopped.

Wala naman siyang masyadong naging impact sa akin, let's just say by the year that I graduated I had the time of my life. The bullying did not really last long.

Ako naman, I still want my daughter to go to Miriam College. Kasi kahit sa ibang school there's a possibility of bullying din naman. As for the girls being kerengkeng or no manners, kahit din naman sa all-girls school. Like what sis bellapot posted, it depends on the upbringing of the parents.

and again like sis bellapot, my sister also had the best time of her life.

[bellapot]

^Hi Sis! Nice to know another Knoller. I'd tell you my batch, but agewise, wag na lang kaya, hehe.

Most of my bully years occurred during grade school. I was already okay once I got into high school. My high school years were good years, buti na lang.

Sis tinmuning, I was never hurt physically. The bullying was more of teasing, jeering, and insults. I was also taken advantage of a lot. Not surprising because I was a really quiet kid and I didn't have a lot of friends back then, so that made me an easy target. I think though, if your kid naman is bibo, she has a lot of friends, and she does well in school, then bullying shouldn't be a problem.

[binggay]

If I may add lang, the teasing, insults, etc. I think are normal. Ako din naman naranasan ko yan especially in grade school. Co-ed school ako galing ha. Pero come high school, mas maayos na.

Big no no lang sa akin, yung physically sinasaktan na. Naku, pag nangyari sa anak ko yan, giyera na!

[ichelie]

Hi!  I want to give my piece as I work for several class A all girls school including Miriam.

Grade 1 in MC is half day, as well as Gr. 2.  But its a transition year for them from preschool (which is about 3 hours) to Grade school.  Having more time in school would just not be healthy for their age.  And so, their schedule adjust to a whole day come Grade 3. 

As for assignments, they do have homeworks.  It's needed by kids this age as this would establish their interest in their studies and would set the foundation for good study habits.  If parents are able to help out in esstablishing this skill in the early grades, then it would be a breeze for them later in the child's life.

As for bullying, anywhere we go bullies exist.  School's have programs for it.  Teachers and counselors are trained to handle them.  But the more important is, that KIDS should know how to handle bullies. Either in school or out of school.  Its a skill that parents need to develop in their children - so wherever they go, they can handle difficult people.

As for academics/ method of teaching.  MC and ICA are both tranditional schools.  While Poveda calls their method Personalized Education. 

On my part, as a parent and as an educator/counselor, I believe in the being aligned with our family values with what the school believes in.  You may read my post here about choosing the best school for our children. 
http://handymommy.multiply.com/journal/item/5/Is_our_best_choice_of_school_really_the_best_for_our_child

I consulted my parenting consultant about choosing th
e best school.  One bottom line is that, school may be a factor, but our parenting and ability to help our children would be more crucial later in our child's life.  My opinion - the decision lies on us as parents as what we hold important.  The track record/name of the school VS. distance and expense, tranditional VS. wholistic upbringing, early at home yet  more homework VS. late to go home but no homework.

Whatever feedbakc these schools may have, the answer lies on what would be valuable to you and your children.

[bellapot]

^Thanks Sis, that really helps a lot.