Parent's Review of Maple Leaf International School in Port of Spain
What is the name of your child's school? (Please report on one school per survey.)
Maple Leaf International School
In what town or city is this school located?
Port of Spain
How would you describe this school? (i.e. American, British, International, Local, etc.)
Canadian -Ontario System
What grade levels are represented at this school?
K-12
How do most children get to school everyday? (bus, train, walk, etc.)
They are driven in by their parents.
How would you describe the facilities at this school? What extra-curricular activities are available?
Facilities are just about adequate. Nothing impressive.Grades K-2 are in a separate building which is good, but the facilities are quite limited.Grade 3-12 fare somewhat better. Extra-curricular is not very good. Limited choice and some strange hours, probably due to lack of space.
What has this school done to help your child transition from the curriculum in your home country into the curriculum in your new country? Are there programs to prepare your child for repatriation?
The school doesn't deal with children with any sort of learning diffculties (such as dyslexia) and although we were not affected, I was surprised at this.
The teachers we experienced were very good and caring (although spelling at times was quite shocking!). Other parents had different views on the standard of teaching. It changed depending on the year the children were at, but generally, teaching was seen as ok.
How would you describe the social activities available for parents through this school? Are there parent-teacher organizations?
PTA was active, but not overly so. Again, not much socia activities for parents. The ocassional coffee morning...
What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling their child in this school?
It's generally a good school. My main concern is that most of the students are Trinidadian. I thought this would be a good thing, helping us to integrate with this society, but I was very surprised at how reserved Trinidadians were (not their first impression, though, which is quite friendly). So even though my children are very extrovert and friendly, we are finding that their classmates are not encouraged to socialise with non-Trinidadians. Only with their extended family members or old family friends.
Very difficult and isolating when you don't share any sort of background with them. Trinidadians are still curteous, but certainly won't "mix". We are considering moving school because of this, as social connections for an expat is very important and I don't want my children (which are noticing already) to be affected.
We hear that the other International School, which is mostly expat, is more aware of the importance of these social connections.
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Minou64This school is "run as a business". That is a direct quote from the chairman of the board of directors who refused to even apologize when our 8 (grade 3) year old son was seriously injured because of wet and dangerous tiles and sharp steps in the school. The arrogance of this man (who is a prominent banker) and the total lack of sympathy from the school forced us to remove our children from Maple Leaf and send them to ISPS. The joke is on the school and its board of directors though, because the truth is that in the beginning all that we expected was a simple apology. Instead, we were forced by the school's unrelenting arrogance and refusal to acknowledge that it was wrong, to sue. The school's insurance company paid us a 5 figure sum in settlement of the injury to our little son who to this day carries a large scar on his right leg. But they did us a favour. ISPS is more expensive, but its standards are very much higher than Maple Leaf's... in every way!! Oh! By the way, we found out AFTER the accident that another little 8 year old (a Canadian boy) had been injured in the same spot that our son was hurt some 9 months before our son's accident! The school never told anybody!! The parents left the country shortly after the incident. If you care about your child's safety, this is definitely not the school for you!
guestI have heard that 'city kids' / POS are not as friendly. I had considered Maple Leaf, bu teventually turned to St. Xavier's, UWI because I have settled in St. Aug. not far from the University campus. Many of the kids in this residential area are a lot friendlier - my child will begin school next week (construction) - I will let you know how it works out (for your/others general information - although not POS location). ps after reading comment below, I am glad I did not make the effort to go to what I believed to be an exceptional school
