The International Schools Review Forum

Out of curiosity, which of the the schools in Shanghai have diverse student populations? I'm hoping to avoid schools (for our teenage children) schools that are heavily (80-90%) one or two nationalities.

Thanks.

I dont think that exists with how you have defined it. You either have the 1st/elite tier ISs that are heavy on the westerners side or you have the others that skew towards the local host population side.

So the elite schools still have one or two nationalities forming 80-90% of the population?

I would have thought there'd be a broader mix of Western and Asian nationalities in those schools...

What about SCIS or WISS? What is the student mix like at those schools?

@vincentchase

I generally aggregate westerners into the same demographic, if you consider them separate and distinct you end up with very small cell sizes.

It isnt from my experience in Shanghai, ISs tend to be heavy on one or the other. Either its basically an embassy/expat IS or its a local host IS, the minority group doesnt exceed 20%. The elite tier ISs are a heavy majority of westerners.

vincentchase wrote:
> What about SCIS or WISS? What is the student mix like at those schools?

SCIS is at least 30% locals though they carry either a Hong Kong or Taiwanese passport. I didn't find SCIS (any campus), to have the true international mix I hoped for.

Shanghai American - Puxi campus is largely Asian students. The Pudong Campus is a bit more diverse, but still predominantly Asian.

Concordia is probably the most diverse, but does have the religious aspect.

Dulwich College is a British program is probably second most diverse.

In case the original poster is not aware, the Chinese gov does not allow Chinese passport holders to enroll in international school programs, and "Intl' divisions" of local schools that serve mostly local students.

If the Intl' Schools could enroll local students, it would be a dream situation, and we'd all have huge waiting lists, and much more diverse classrooms.

@nikkor

This is true, but lots of dual passport holders as well as a lot of ISs that arent international that hire westerners