It’s hard to believe how fast the school year is going by. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were welcoming students to the first day of school, applauding at the Christmas concert and celebrating Chinese New Year. Soon, students will be on Experience Week, away for Easter vacation and then preparing for graduation! It may seem early but we need to prepare for the next school year.
Siblings
Monday, March 3 was the first day that we were able to accept registrations for 2014-15. We had an overwhelming response with more than 150 applications being submitted. Many of these applications are from prospective TIS families. TIS is also committed to providing placements to siblings of existing families. In order for us to do this, we need the parents to apply for registration as soon as possible. Please be sure to indicate on the application form the name of the sibling or siblings attending TIS.
Waiting Lists
Once again, many of the kindergarten and primary classes will have waiting lists for students. In order to help meet the growing demand, we are opening a few more classrooms. Plans are well underway to expand the school with Phase II, however, this project will not be completed until 2016.
Tuition Increases
The board has approved the following tuition increases. They are keenly aware of the investment that parents are placing in their childrens’ education and every effort is made to balance this with the increasing cost of operating the school. As a non-profit school, all surpluses or deficits from previous years are carried forward. We continue to look for ways to maximize our other income, such as donations and government subventions.
|
2013-14 |
Increase |
2014-15 |
|
| Kindergarten |
55,000 |
+7,000 |
62,000 |
| Grade 1-3 |
74,000 |
+6,000 |
80,000 |
| Grade 4-6 |
79,000 |
+6,000 |
85,000 |
| Grade 7-9 |
81,000 |
+9,000 |
90,000 |
| Grade 10-12 |
89,500 |
+5,500 |
95,000 |
- Tuition increases are the primary way of increasing staff salaries. This increase in tuition will enable us to increase staff salaries by 6% to offset the current Macau inflation rate of 6.5%. It will also allow TIS to continue attracting high quality teachers to our school.
- A higher tuition increase at the kindergarten level is due to higher staff and program costs and the lowest average class sizes.
- Slightly unequal increases are necessary in order to create standardized steps between the different grade levels.
Deposits
Don’t forget to reserve your spot for next year. Deposits for 2014-15 will be due on April 30. The deposit allows us to reserve a placement for your child. Given the increasing demand and waiting lists, it will not be possible to reserve a placement for 2014-15 unless the deposit is paid.
Moving Away From Macau
We understand that some families’ time in Macau will be ending soon. If your family is leaving at the end of the school year, can I ask you to let us know as early as possible? This allows us the necessary time to prepare your files and to ensure that our class lists for 2014-15 are as accurate as possible.
As we approach the last 4 months of school and the hopeful return of some warm weather, life at the school is going to get busier and busier. Please be sure to stay in touch. I look forward to all of us finishing the school year as strong or stronger than the start of the year.
Howard Stribbell, Head of School