Cebu schools for foreigners

[JJJ]

A friend with children will move to Cebu and has to decide on a school. The two options she is looking at are Bright Academy and Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu.

Does anyone know these schools? Any opinions? 

Are there any really good schools in Manila that someone can suggest? The kids are junior high school age.

Thanks very much

[Old55]

I can very highly recommend Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu. It's inline with some of the finest schools in the US and by far better than average US public schools. We've family and friends with children that attend and that have graduated. Several attend or have graduated from La Salle or Dillman after attending Sacred Heart. 

If the children are in an average middle school now they may need a tutor to help them adjust to Sacred Heart but that should not be an issue tutors are affordable.

Are the children Filipino or Foreigner or mixed? 

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Old55

[JJJ]

That you very much for your reply. They are all foreign kids, not Filipino. She can contact that school for more detail. I will pass your comments to her.

[Old55]

Foreign children would need a tutor then at least for awhile but no big deal.

They would fit in that school Okay. Many of the Filipino families are dual citizen or travel to US or Europe so foreigners are not a big deal one way or the other. Keep in mind the tuition is somewhat expensive but you get what you pay for and it's a good value for the education they provide.

[intrepid]

5 hours ago, JJJ said:

A friend with children will move to Cebu and has to decide on a school. The two options she is looking at are Bright Academy and Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu.

Does anyone know these schools? Any opinions? 

Are there any really good schools in Manila that someone can suggest? The kids are junior high school age.

Thanks very much

We moved to Laguna from the US when my daughter was starting the 5th grade.  She had been an A student in the US.  We enrolled her in Del La Salle integrated school in Laguna(https://www.dlsu.edu.ph/integrated-school/ ) We were living in Sta Rosa.  The school was wonderful but as stated above we had to hire a tutor for her because she was so far behind.  Mostly math and of course local history.  She also had to stay after school one hour for Tagalog class four years.  Today she can speak Tagalog fluently.  After attending school there six years she did very well but wanted to return to the states and finish her last years at her old school.  She will graduate next year and has learned so much while in the Philippines that school is so easy for her back in the states.  One of the biggest things I think she learned there was how to study.  The school is not cheap but worth it and I think on par with public schools in the US. 

For tuition at DLSU high school rates will be just over $2000 per year + uniforms and books.  Sometimes there are also activity fees.

Edited June 27, 2023 by intrepid
added cost info

[JJReyes]

3 hours ago, Old55 said:

Keep in mind the tuition is somewhat expensive but you get what you pay for and it's a good value for the education they provide.

It is expensive by Philippine standard, but relatively cheap compared to private schools in the United States.  Differences may include uniform requirements for high school students and grooming standards like length of hair (both girls and boys) and no earrings (boys).

[Mike J]

36 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

It is expensive by Philippine standard, but relatively cheap compared to private schools in the United States.  Differences may include uniform requirements for high school students and grooming standards like length of hair (both girls and boys) and no earrings (boys).

Out of curiosity I checked the fees for Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu.  The tuition feels for high school was 93K grade 9,  to 107K grade 12.   Twenty plus years ago I was paying $400 per month for my step daughter in High School.   That school's current tuition for high school is now $11,340, well over 600K peso per year.  So yes, an excellent school for a very reasonable price compared to US prices.  Schools here are a lot like the medical care.  The quality ranges from extremely poor to world class depending on location and how much you can afford.

[JJReyes]

Out of curiosity, I checked the tuition for Punahou Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Currently, it is over $30,000 per year, K to 12.  Annual fees of $20,000 to $30,000 are probably the current range for private schools in the United States.  Glad both our children were accepted by the University of Hawaii Laboratory School.  It's a curriculum research and development facility designing new curriculum for the United States and Pacific Islanders.  My description is similar to a private school, but no tuition.

[Kingpin]

8 hours ago, JJJ said:

A friend with children will move to Cebu and has to decide on a school. The two options she is looking at are Bright Academy and Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu.

Does anyone know these schools? Any opinions?

Bright is overpriced daycare, and Ateneo is hectic and overcrowded.

What you want is Cebu International School if they're American,  or  Centre for International Education for the Brits.

Edited June 28, 2023 by Kingpin

[Old55]

6 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

Bright is overpriced daycare, and Ateneo is hectic and overcrowded.

What you want is Cebu International School if they're American,  or  Centre for International Education for the Brits.

Good call Kingpin.

Although not what JJJ asked for they should know that Cebu International School is a high quality school.