Your kid did not choose to be born to a family that moves from one country to another. Moving is never easy as it involves a complete overhaul of one’s lifestyle. If it’s overwhelming to an adult, imagine just how perplexing it is to a child. When moving, the least you could do is ensure that your child still has the best chances at life by choosing the best school. This is why expats go out of their way to enroll their kids in international schools. We know that looking for the best international school for your child can be draining so we collected five solid tips from expats to make your hunt easier.

After reading this post, you will:

• Clearly know the benefits of enrolling your child in an international school

• Find it easy to look for the best international school for your child

Benefits of Enrolling Your Child in an International School

International schools are educational institutions that cater to the needs of an international community. They offer an international educational curriculum that allows students to have uninterrupted education. This is beneficial to kids of expats as they can easily be anywhere in the world and still study in the same way that their Western schools would. This is also beneficial to non-expat parents who want world-class education for their child. 

Enrolling in an international school allows for a smooth transition at all times because of the same educational curriculum. If you’re a Bali expat from the US and you’d enroll your child in Bangkok Prep International School, your child will not have a hard time transitioning because the curriculum is exactly the same. This is why international schools are favored by expats because kids’ education can be easily transferred and acquired across the globe.  Apart from seamless transferability, your kid will also enjoy the following benefits:

• Access to world-class education

• No language barrier (International schools teach in English)

• Access to world-class facilities

• Access to world-class educational materials

• Access to international academic networks, associations, and networks

• Easy community adjustment (kids will also be surrounded by other expat kids)

• A unique sense of community

• No gap in education (your kid won’t fall back and won’t need to fill the gaps when he returns home)

Top 5 Tips from Expats Who Successfully Found the Best International School for their Kids

To ensure that you get to choose the best international school for your child, you should take note of the following tips:

1st Tip: Know the Application Process of Your Options

International schools have unique enrollment periods. If you scheduled your move around your child’s school year, this will not be a problem. But if you didn’t, then your choices will be limited. Some schools don’t accept students in the middle of a semester. Some will accept students while the school year is ongoing but will require your child to start immediately. Such can be very stressful for your child. Moving is stressful enough so you wouldn’t want to add to your child’s stress so you should avoid such schools. You should give your child all the time and space to adjust to a new country. To make things easier for you, you should look for international schools that accept enrollments all year.

2nd Tip: Refer to an Accrediting Body

You should refer to accrediting educational bodies to check the qualification of your options. You can refer to Apple Distinguished Educators and the Council of International Schools. You should check if your prospective international school for your kid is duly registered and accredited. 

3rd Tip: Research, research, research. 

Your child’s future is on the line so you should go all out in researching. You should dedicate solid days to comparing and evaluating different international schools. To boost your research, you should do the following:

• Look for the school’s social media profile and see how seamless the communication is within the community. See if it’s easy to reach out and contact administrators.

• Research on alumni programs. Your child will benefit greatly if his or her school has solid alumni programs. Such programs open numerous opportunities for networking and career growth.

• Check with the local government: inquire on certification, licensing, and matters of inspection

4th Tip: Interview the staff.

This is a solid tip that can truly clue you in as to how an international school is run. When doing ocular rounds, make it a point to interview staff and maintenance people. Some things that are only known to them, you will only be aware of if you’d ask around and participate in casual conversations. You should ask teachers and staff for their opinion as to how the school is run. You should observe how the people in their community are. Are they friendly? Do they make it easy for children to reach out? Do they cater to kids’ needs for attention and guidance across all endpoints? Ask and observe. Reflect if these are the kind of people that you will be comfortable entrusting your kid to. 

5th Tip: Don’t neglect extracurricular activities. 

Your choice of international school should offer numerous extracurricular activities for your child. Your child will enjoy his stay in a new country if he or she gets to explore new activities and learn new skills. It will also be perfect for your child’s application process come college.