Jump to content

International Christian School (Hong Kong): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Reverted edits by 58.152.69.198 (talk) to last version by Woohookitty
Line 58: Line 58:


==Criticism and Controversy==
==Criticism and Controversy==
There has been some controversy, not just over International Christian School but also Christian schools in Hong Kong generally, over the teaching of children, which would include ones at more gullible stages of the Bible as the one true source of information, and causing criticism for its narrowness. <ref name="ics.edu.hk">http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/20031101.pdf </ref> There has also been some questioning about the school's employment policies. <ref name="ics.edu.hk"/>
There has been some controversy, not just over International Christian School but also Christian schools in Hong Kong generally, over the teaching of children, which would include ones at more gullible stages of the Bible as the one true source of information. <ref name="ics.edu.hk">http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/20031101.pdf </ref> There has also been some questioning about the school's employment policies. <ref name="ics.edu.hk"/>


There has also been an increasing number of concerns over the tuition, which has risen over the years. Also, the middle school's behaviour policy has been questioned due to the harsh treatments of students under punishment.<ref> http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/20070127SCMPEducation.pdf </ref><ref> http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/moretuitionnews.pdf </ref>
There has also been an increasing number of concerns over the tuition, which has risen over the years. <ref> http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/20070127SCMPEducation.pdf </ref><ref> http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/moretuitionnews.pdf </ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 12:32, 15 October 2009

International Christian School
File:International Christian School logo.jpg
Location
Map
Shek Mun (main) and Fotan (Kindergarten), Hong Kong

Hong Kong

China
Information
TypePrivate Day
MottoInstruction for Life; Commitment to Christ; Service to the Community
Religious affiliation(s)Christian
Established1992
PrincipalBrian Van Tassel (High School)
PrincipalBryan Thompson (Middle School)
PrincipalKeith Welch & Tim Wong (Upper and Lower Elementary respectively)
PrincipalBeverly Van Hoy (Kindergarten)
HeadmasterBenjamin Norton
GradesK-12
Number of students926 (2008-2009)
LanguageEnglish
AffiliationNon-denominational Christian
Websitehttp://www.ics.edu.hk/

International Christian School is a Christian school in Hong Kong. It is located in Shek Mun. International Christian School was founded in 1992. [1] English is used as the medium of instruction.

Curriculum

International Christian School is based on an American curriculum. Students up to Grade 9 take the Standford Achievement Tests yearly, and high schools students take the SAT. All classes until High School are mandatory. In high school, students will then start to have gradually increasing freedom in choosing their courses. However, like all high schools, students must still have the required number of credits every year and also in high school in general in each area of study to graduate. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are also offered in art, various areas of science, various areas in mathematics, English language and literature, and in Chinese.[2]

Fine and performing arts

Music and art classes are taught to elementary students. Music, art, and drama classes are offered throughout middle and high school.

General music classes are taken up to Grade 5 [3], where they are replaced with band and choir. Both are then compulsory until high school, where students can then choose to take both on alternating days, take either band or choir every day, or only take one class of either band or choir every other day or not to take band at all. [4]

Art and drama classes are both taught in middle school. Students take either art or drama in the first semester and the other one in the second semester. In high school, students can choose to take art or drama; however, they are not mandatory, although students need three fine and performing arts credits to graduate.

Languages

Until Grade 9, classes in Mandarin are mandatory. Upon entering high school, students can either continue taking courses in Putonghua or take classes in French.[5] However, the emphasis is on Chinese: there are more choices for Chinese classes and most students take Chinese in high school anyway. No other languages are taught.

Bible classes

Bible classes are compulsory in all grade levels.[5] Chapel attendance is also compulsory. Chapel generally occurs every Wednesday for the high school and every Tuesday for the middle school. All-school chapels occur a few times every academic year. Grade 6-7 students study the Old Testament in their Bible classes. Grade 8 students study the Gospel. Bible classes are also mandatory in high school; one class must be taken every year.

Campuses

International Christian School was originally located in Kowloon City. After a few years, a new campus was opened in Lai Yu. In the 2001-2002 school year, all elementary grade levels moved to a new campus in Fotan, which is in Shatin, and the secondary grade levels moved entirely to the Kowloon City campus. Until the 2007-2008 academic year, the Secondary campus, which consists of Middle and High school, was in Kowloon City, and the Kindergarten and Elementary campuses were in Fotan. In the 2007-2008 school year, the elementary and secondary campuses moved into a new building in Shek Mun, which is part of Shatin. One of the goals of this is said to be to provided an environment with more unity.

The kindergarten is still located on the Fotan Campus, which is in the 7th floor of Jubilee Court, which is a shopping mall in Fotan, a part of Shatin.[6] The P1 grade, which serves as the final year of kindergarten, is located in Shek Mun. The elementary school, which contains grades 1-5, is located in Shek Mun, as well as the middle school, which consists of grades 6-8, and finally, the high school, which consists of grades 9-12.[6]

Shek Mun School Building

The Shek Mun Campus, was constructed to represent God's hands spread out. The building is divided into two wings. The Elementary Wing (P1- Grade 5) is on the left side of the photograph, and the Secondary Wing, which consists of Middle and High school, is on the right side of the photograph. The first three floors of the building are shared by both the elementary and the secondary. These floors contain most of the music rooms, the two gymnasiums, and various rooms used by the administration. The next four floors consist of general classrooms, computer labs, labs, the libraries, and the art rooms. Finally, the eighth floor is used to house new teachers and their families for their first year at the school. The building's floor numbers start at the ground floor, following the British system commonly used in Hong Kong. (Since the ground floor should also be counted in the number of floors, there are actually eight floors to the building. Thus, the first three floors are shared, not the first two.)

Faculty

Administration

Beverly Van Hoy is the principal in charge of the kindergarten.[7] There are two assistant principals who are charge of the elementary - Tim Wong and Keith Welch.[3] The middle school's principal is Bryan Thompson.[8] Finally, Brian Van Tassel is the principal who is in charge of the high school.[9] The school's headmaster is Ben Norton. [1]

Faculty

According to the ICS website[10], the faculty is a mix of different nationalities, with 2% from the Czech Republic, 49% from the US, 2% from India, 1% from Sri Lanka, 2% from Nigeria, 20% from Hong Kong, 11% from Canada, 1% from Israel, 1% from China, 1% from Singapore, 1% from Australia, and 5% from multiple locations, as of the 2007-2008 school year. Staff are required to be Christians to work in International Christian School.

Criticism and Controversy

There has been some controversy, not just over International Christian School but also Christian schools in Hong Kong generally, over the teaching of children, which would include ones at more gullible stages of the Bible as the one true source of information. [11] There has also been some questioning about the school's employment policies. [11]

There has also been an increasing number of concerns over the tuition, which has risen over the years. [12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/aboutICS.aspx?id=81
  2. ^ Description of AP and honours courses
  3. ^ a b http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/schools_elementary.aspx?id=37
  4. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/High%20School%20Course%20Catalog.pdf pages 20-23
  5. ^ a b http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/about_IL_curriculum.aspx?id=9 \
  6. ^ a b http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/contact_info.aspx?id=79
  7. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/schools_kindergarten.aspx?id=30
  8. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/schools_MiddleSchool.aspx?id=44
  9. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/schools_HighSchool.aspx?id=53
  10. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/En/Pub/about_ICSFamily_faculty.aspx?id=4
  11. ^ a b http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/20031101.pdf
  12. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/20070127SCMPEducation.pdf
  13. ^ http://www.ics.edu.hk/Admin/ICS_NEWS/moretuitionnews.pdf

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Christian_School_(Hong_Kong)&oldid=320002769"