Parent's Review of QSI Atyrau in Atyrau, Kazakhstan

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

QSI Atyrau

In what town or city is this school located?

Atyrau

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

American

What grade levels are represented at this school?

Pre K to 12

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

Bus or car

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

There is a new school under construction. It is suppose to be good. We'll have to wait and see.

The extra-curricular activities are sometimes good, but you really need to make sure that the teacher assigned isn't just throwing kids paper and markers to draw "whatever" or allowing kids to play computer games. The parent needs to monitor the quality.

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 is accredited by a US body, and so it is easy to transfer from the US to this school and back. The main concern is that this school only gives A's and B's as it subscribes to "mastery learning." It would be OK with it if the teachers were all very experienced in this system, but it turns out that the teachers hired for this school are newly certified or even not certified.

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

There is a "parent support group." This group mostly just helps with events such as the International Day or Harvest Festival. It's not really a group to have input into school policy or direction.

Parents need to be proactive in monitoring the quality of education at this school as there are some teachers who put in minimal effort.

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

Be extremely careful to check the qualifications of the teacher teaching your child. Find out how many years of teaching experience in the grade and find out other parents' opinion. The school hires teachers without credentials and without experience. Parents need to join together to insist teachers have at least 5 years experience in the US and another couple of years teaching abroad.

Lastly, make sure the teacher has no record of being dismissed from this school or another school for unprofessional behavior.

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