Nia started school on the 21st of August (just days after our arrival), and has been busy adapting to her new school for the last week and a half. There were three great schools in town, but we chose the Kazakhstan International School (KIS) because they offered the International Baccalaureate Curriculum (IB) that she had in India.
KIS is quite young in comparison to many international schools ( they started in 2003). Five years ago they moved to the beautiful new campus you see pictured above. The school size feels just right for us–about 40 per class, Pre-K through Grade 12. Total enrollment is around 600, with 44% expats and 56% Kazakhs. The school is growing by leaps and bounds right now, with grades K-6 all at or near capacity.
One of the things I love most about the school is that they’ve chosen a later start time for middle and high schoolers (9:40 AM) based on recent research showing that behavioral outcomes in students improve with later start times. Additionally, their optional school activities are BEFORE school, not after, which gets the kids’ bodies and minds warmed up before they hit the classroom.
This is a big transition year for Nia. It’s her first year getting homework and switching teachers/classrooms for each subject. Her schedule is rather complicated, but she seems to be figuring it out. She has eight different classes each semester. Six classes remain the same all year and two switch at the semester (Design, Visual Arts, Music and Drama). She only has four classes a day, each for 75 to 80 minutes. On top of that there’s a ten minute homeroom, a 30 minute lunch, and 30 minutes of flex (free) time after lunch.
Here’s where it gets complicated though . . . not only do the classes alternate days, but they also tumble. So, for example, if Math is in period one on Monday, it will now be in Period two on Wednesday. That means that some weeks she has Math two times, other weeks three. Tricky, huh?
We’ve chosen to ease in slowly with before-school activities, opting for 3 days instead of 5. For this round of electives (which go through November), she selected Eco-club, the “Blank Canvas” art club, and Theatre sports (improv games).
Here’s a photo from her first day of school. She’s already found a couple friends and seems to be adjusting well. Guess what her hardest subject is thus far?? Russian! (Ha! No surprise there. I’ve been struggling with Russian for 7 months now.) If you’d like to see a video tour of the school, you can click here.
