There is no denying that a large number of students enroll at Dominican International School each year. However, have we ever thought about what our newest members’ former schools were like? I asked some of these new students one simple question: what makes DIS different from their former school? It was not surprising to find out how similar and varied all of the schools our kids attended were, so I wanted to learn more about them.
The first entry of one of our new students said:
“Teachers teach more things in DIS, and the stuff that they teach is really useful.”, “Dismissal is earlier here! At my previous school, dismissal was at 4:30 p.m.”, “When we have classes in DIS, the students are mostly quiet.”, “At DIS we speak English, but not at my previous school. Additionally, DIS is much bigger than my previous school.”, “Coming here finally lets me feel what it’s like in an international school. Lastly, “The uniform looks much better and the fabric is nice.”
Emma Ganhao, a new 7th-grade student from France responded:
“Well, in DIS, the campus is a lot bigger and located in nature. In our previous school, our campus was surrounded by a busy neighborhood. Here, there are rules to follow to discipline us. There were fewer in my old school; finally, my old school was in Ecuador, while this school is in Taiwan.”
The third and final entry told us this: “Learning in DIS is a lot harder because they give a lot more homework and tests. The teachers are more strict, but they’re also very nice. There’s a lot more discipline here too. We didn’t have exams in my old school, but here we do. We are learning a lot more difficult stuff than we used to in my old school. I mean, it’s part of the process, so seeing it hard means I’m getting there.”
All of the students’ responses share certain components, yet they also differ in other ways. These are just a few of our new students at DIS, but there are so many more! If you see any new students in your class, make sure to make them feel welcome.
