# Top 3 schools



## swiss (Mar 6, 2010)

Help us choose a school please! We are confused 

We are moving from Switzerland to Dubai this summer and we are looking for a good school for our two children aged 11 and 6. We want to place them both in one school so want a school that offers excellent primary and secondary education. We are open of either one of UK/AP/IB curricula. Location is not a major criteria as we would choose to live near the school we pick. Our ideal school would be one with a strong academic reputation as well as a wide range of after-school extra-curricular activities.

We are considering the following schools and would like to hear your choice of top 3 schools? Would appreciate your perspective and would love to hear about your experience or reputation of these schools. 

1. American School of Dubai
2. Dubai American Academy
3. Dubai International Academy
4. Emirates International School
5. Gems World Academy
6. Gems Wellington International School
7. Greenfield Community School
8. Repton Dubai School

Which are the top 3 you would pick from this list given our criteria above? :first::second::third: (or if we missed a great school please share!)

Thanks!


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

Is there a none of the above button?


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## spam (Apr 10, 2010)

Andy Capp said:


> Is there a none of the above button?


Swiss: This post is also very useful for us as we're thinking about moving to Dubai with my current employer - our children are 7 and 5. We've looked at the website for the JESS schools and are impressed - but it seems the waiting list is very long. You might want to add these to the poll.

Andy Capp: if there was a 'none of the above' button on the poll, what schools would you rate instead of those listed? Thanks


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

JESS and Dubai College - any not for profit place - I would never (unless I really had too) put the money in to the hands of a brown noser (last seen with Clinton yesterday).

Never.


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## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

I know nothing personally, but a colleague has his kids in Dubai British School and they kids seem to love it. His wife is a teacher and she's happy with the standard of education so may be worth considering.


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## oh! (Feb 24, 2010)

In dubai...you don't choose a school...a school chooses you!

and that is the reality my friend...this is the major downside of Dubai IMHO. At the end of the day realistically speaking you'll be choosing schools, where your children have actually been offered a seat. I would seriously recommend...don't get picky choosey, contact all of them.


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## swiss (Mar 6, 2010)

Andy Capp said:


> Is there a none of the above button?


Andy -- Good question. I did not add a "none of the above" option in the poll as these are the only schools we are considering so need this group's help to narrow this list down. Thank you.


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## swiss (Mar 6, 2010)

spam said:


> Swiss: This post is also very useful for us as we're thinking about moving to Dubai with my current employer - our children are 7 and 5. We've looked at the website for the JESS schools and are impressed - but it seems the waiting list is very long. You might want to add these to the poll.


Spam: Glad this poll will help others. I did not add JESS to the poll options because based on our criteria above only their Arabian Ranches site has primary and secondary school on the same location. When I called the school they said the waiting list was very long and that they had already allotted places for Year 7 (for my 11 yr old) and had no places to offer. So we eliminated this school from our consideration list. I did read a lot of positive comments about this institution so good luck for your kids.

All -- Please add your top 3 votes to help us narrow done the list. Thanks!


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## swiss (Mar 6, 2010)

oh! said:


> In dubai...you don't choose a school...a school chooses you!
> 
> and that is the reality my friend...this is the major downside of Dubai IMHO. At the end of the day realistically speaking you'll be choosing schools, where your children have actually been offered a seat. I would seriously recommend...don't get picky choosey, contact all of them.


Oh!: Your comment confirms what we have heard from others. Reminds me of the Harry Potter -- "the wand chooses the wizard"  Indeed we have contacted all these schools. Hoping you can help us narrow this list down so that we can make quick decision if we get more than one offer. Thank you!

All -- Please add your Top 3 votes and your perspective on any of the eight schools we are considering above. Thanks in advance!


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## oh! (Feb 24, 2010)

swiss said:


> Oh!: Your comment confirms what we have heard from others. Reminds me of the Harry Potter -- "the wand chooses the wizard"  Indeed we have contacted all these schools. Hoping you can help us narrow this list down so that we can make quick decision if we get more than one offer. Thank you!
> 
> All -- Please add your Top 3 votes and your perspective on any of the eight schools we are considering above. Thanks in advance!


well we had spent a lot of time in research and actually visiting the places and keeping in view a lot of variables including location, annual fee, a school which could have taken all 3 of our kids, facilities, faculty and students/references we had chosen Wellington as our first choice...but that was before my wife started getting job offers from Abu Dhabi...


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

I disagree, when i turned up here 5 years ago with 2 kids we had our choice of schools - the waiting lists disappeared - maybe it was cos EK were paying the bills?


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