Yuen Long Kindergarten Suggestions

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MLBW

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Hi. I'm looking for preschool and kindergarten suggestions for Yuen Long.

I've seen a few places but am not sure about the reputation etc.

One place called the Zenith International Kindergarten, in addition to having really painful-to-look-at, mismatched, psychadelic colors splattered everywhere (bright neon yellow walls coupled with sparkly magenta countertops, bright sparkly blue and white floors all under "jewelry-shop" lights) also is not accredited and the person who runs the place has no official education qualifications.

I am looking for a good, reputable, accredited preschool and kindergarten for my son. He's 15 months now so we definitely need to be applying soon. Any Christian kindergartens are of special interest to me as well.

If you have any suggestions or know where I can go to find the information I need please let me know.

Thanks!
 
Zenith is a horror to behold.

We're considering St. Lorraine's International Kindergarten.

Its next to citimall - and the playground itself is amazing! We walked by last year and inquired and a week later the principle, 2 english teachers and a classroom assistant had a sit down with us to discuss the school. Im put off by ESF as it's too far. Both the English and Cantonese program seem excellent. Let me know if you want to go have a look -- I dont live very far and I need to go by myself as I'm relatively new at the application process. My son was born in Dec. 2007 -- some say I need to apply now, some later. That's HK for you. I think you have my email :) if now message me.
 
Hi, I second St Lorraine's Kindergarden. My son attends the pre-nursery class and absolutely loves it. However, we attend the Palm Spring's branch as it's closer to where we live and it's a much smaller school than the one in Yuen Long.

Something you might want to check with the school, but I was speaking to one of the parents in my sons class who are from Yuen Long. They mentioned that the Yuen Long school does not have a pre-nursery section (starting age 2yrs) and that is why their child is attending at Palm Springs. I mention this as I know you are also looking into your child attending pre-nursery.
 
We called St. Lorraine's yesterday but I'm not sure if we talked to the one in Palm Springs or the one in Yuen Long. We were planning to go for a tour this Saturday after 10 am.

Actually, I am not sure where Palm Springs is at. Is it on the road to Huang Gang or Fanling? If so, then it may be closer to us than Yuen Long.

Klam, can you tell me the phone number for the Palm Spring's branch as we really want to enroll our son in a pre-nursery program first.

They told us that we can pick applications up in June and that interviews are in October (I think). I think that's for the kindergarten. However, I don't know how it works for pre-nursery.

We would like to enroll our son ASAP but no later than this autumn in pre-nursery. From what they explained on the phone yesterday the earliest he could start is August 2010 but that is too late for us. Would love to have him in something by August 2009.

How was the application process for you, Klam? How long did it take to get your child in?

My son was born in November 2007.
 
esf and some other schools in HK will have your son in K1 in august 2010. As u want preschool u can join anytime subject to availability.
 
Thanks Ladies, I just called the Palm Springs branch this morning and will go by and pick up an application ASAP. I could probably get him in a class right away, it seems but it is probably better to wait until August to enroll him with a new group of students as this term is nearly over. It is half-days. 9 am-12 pm and I think she said $3,500 HKD/month for tuition. I guess we should go ahead and apply for the Yuen Long branch (or maybe Palm Springs too?) for kindergarten as well--just apply all at once seems like a good idea.

Oh, and Nashua...I e mailed you awhile ago but never heard back from you. I told you that I have a friend in the YL area who met up with you at some point. I don't know about you, but I am going to get on the ball with all this application stuff for pre-school and kindergarten as there doesn't seem to be an abundance of choices in the YL area and I don't want my son to get left out. And I really don't want to commute further than YL to take him to school--Tuen Mun is even too far for us. So, I'm thinking of maybe going by the Palm Springs place tomorrow between 9 and noon to pick up an application and take a tour. If you're interested in joining me, let me know--e mail or PM. :0) (And it would be good to meet you and your child--he's a month younger than my son, likely)
 
Hi MLBW, sorry I didn't reply, had to pop into work today so didn't have chance to check the thread.

Did you manage to check the Palm Spring's branch today? You'll find that it is a lot smaller than the Yuen Long Branch which I love. At the moment, the pre-nursery class my son is in, has about 15 students, all having started at different times of the year.
I agree that you should start your child next term as they need to be 2yrs to start. Also, I'm not sure how many children will start at the beginning of next term, but last Aug when my son started, there were only 6 in the class which was fantastic and the teachers were able to give so much attention to each individual that they all settled in so well.

The interview for Palm Springs was so relaxing. It wasn't really an interview but had two children playing in the play area with the headmistress chatting to us. My son was super shy and kept running away from her every time she wanted to catch his attention but she just laughed and said how cute he was. Realistically, because the Palm Springs branch really cater for children living within the area, they don't get masses of applications like the Yuen Long branch, so your chances of being accepted to Palm Springs is a lot higher.

Where are you located? I live at Fairview Park which is literally next to Palm Springs, so more convenient for me. Let me know if you need anymore info.
 
Thanks Klam for all the tips. We live about a 25 minutes from Fairview Park--we first have to walk to the main road of Kam Tin and catch a mini-bus and then it is about 10 minutes to Fairview Park. We have friends who live there in FVP that we go visit at least every other week. My son will not be 2-years-old until November so is it even possible for him to get into the pre-kindergarten school in August? Oh, that still seems like too long to wait for him--he really needs the social interaction and I don't have the time to take him to a playgroup several times a week and then stay with him the whole time as I work and we do not have a helper to do that. My MIL takes care of my son during the day but as she only speaks Cantonese she would not be a good candidate to take him to an English-speaking program--which is what we really want. As, right now he has taken a total preference for Cantonese rather than English even though he is around both equally. So, I really want to put him into a good English-speaking program that is near to our home as soon as I can. That really stinks that they only take 2-year-olds. What shall I do? Hmmm....
 
Feedback?

Hi ladies,

I know your posts are from 2009...but just wondering what you feedback is on St. Lorainne preschool (Palm Springs). My daughter is 2 in October, I'm currently starting to take her to playgroups, but am looking at preschools. Also, if you take their preschool program, if there a higher chance that they will accept you in their kindergarten?
 
Moving to Fairview in September

Hi there,

Just wonder if anyone studies at St Lorraine (Palm Springs). We are moving to Fairview Park next month and we are completely new to the area!

My son is currently at PIPS at Elements. I am hoping to transfer him to a school nearby, ideally a school that teaches both Chinese (Mandarin/ Cantonese) and English.

Any comments/ suggestions/ ideas about St Lorraine or kindergarten nearby would be appreciated.

BR,

Anita
 
Having sent my kid to Zenith Yuen Long for the past 2.5 yrs, I've come see that the school is simply rotten covered up with fancy packaging, filled with parents and children from the mainland with bad behavior. Certain teachers deliberately present inaccurate information to make themselves look better. Often one'd receive blatant advertisements (e.g. from milk powder companies) in the schoolbag.
 
I know this thread is old one, but for anyone currently looking for kindergarten in Yuen Long, I thought would be nice to share my recent findings. My child attends St. Lorraine on Palm Springs. She came home concern because he said she saw the teacher was fighting with other teacher. And not only with words, but someone named Mr Kevin was grabbing the jacket of other teacher and looked like she want to hit him. This makes me very concern that someone I trust with my child can behave this way in school grounds where there are childrens. I would reconsider if I want to enroll my child again next year in this school if this teacher remains. I hope the school will take action against this dangerous person for the purpose of protecting our babies. Beware parents!
 
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