Parent's Review of Glenelg School in Abu Dhabi, UAE

What is the name of your child's school? (Please report on one school per survey.)

Glenelg School

In what town or city is this school located?

Abu Dhabi

How would you describe this school? (i.e. American, British, International, Local, etc.)

Local (US Curriculum)

What grade levels are represented at this school?

6-12 (starting primary in 2010/2011)

How do most children get to school everyday? (bus, train, walk, etc.)

Most children get to school by car, the school is located in the middle of nowhere so bus is not really an option.

How would you describe the facilities at this school? What extra-curricular activities are available?

The school is still relatively new and the facilities in the school are taking a lot longer than need be to get them up and running.

per se "the pool has collapsed, the fields are uneven and because of security concerns are not allowed to be used, and the library hasn't even started to be stocked."

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 has no sense of belonging, to me it looks like they are trying to get rid of my child rather than keep him in school.

The school caters more for the local students so it seems to them as if there is no need to repatriate.

My child is having a very hard time adjusting to the school and making freinds but the school seems not to care and doesn't take any notice.

How would you describe the social activities available for parents through this school? Are there parent-teacher organizations?

The activities are reasonably good however there is less than half the activities stated to be inacted as in the parent student handbook. There are no parent-teacher organisations aulthough there are parent teacher meetings held quite frequently.

What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling their child in this school?

Overall the quality of the school is quite poor, the students have no self discipline and my son has come home on several occaisions crying after getting into a fight with someone who was bullying him. When I informed the administration they just said it is his problem for fighting back!!??. The academics seem to be quite sound and challenging but all the good western teachers seem to be filtering out of the school giving way to less qualified arab teachers.

The school has very few expat students so if enrolling your child in the school make sure he is ok with it.

I wouldn't reccomend the school.