Luanda, Angola Report of what it's like to live there - 05/10/24
Personal Experiences from Luanda, Angola
School Name:
Luanda International School
Background Information:
1. Are you the parent of a child(ren) attending this school? A teacher at the school? Or both?
Parent
2. What grade or grades do/did your children attend at the school? During what year(s) did they attend the school?
8th grade
3. What years did you live here?
2022-2023
4. What was your reason for living in the city where the school is located (e.g., government, military, corporate, NGO, retired)?
Diplomatic Mission
5. Are other schools available to expatriates in this city? Why did you choose this particular school?
This is the only school that goes through high school. There is another school that only goes through (I think) 8th grade which is run by South Africans (not sure).
Admissions & Welcome:
1. Are the admissions and placement procedures clearly stated to prospective families, either on the school website or through other means of communication?
Yes, it was easy and the school was responsive through the registration process.
2. How would you rate the school's support and welcome/integration of new students and their families, and why?
Very welcoming and helpful in integrating our student.
Administration & School Procedures:
1. How is the overall communication between teachers and parents, and the administration and parents? How is communication facilitated?
Communication was not great. We often did not know about events until the last minute.
2. Aside from school fees, are there required expenses such as uniforms, laptops/tablets, musical instruments, or field trips that parents are expected to cover? What are the approximate costs?
Required purchase of a Mac was inconvenient after having only the previous year purchased a laptop for our child. Field trips were not costly but there are some sports where the children travel regionally which I would imagine can be expensive.
Academics & Resources:
1. Is there before and/or after-school daycare available? What are the costs?
No, just some activities after-school but not full after care and no before care.
2. Does the school have a library? How large is it? How updated are the books? Can students borrow books to read at home?
There is a decent library and kids can borrow books.
3. What are the technology requirements for students? Do they need their own laptops/ipads? How is technology integrated into the classroom and homework?
Yes they need to have a Macbook. They do all their homework on it.
4. How are information technology resources at the school. Are they up-to-date? Is there a computer lab?
Seemed up to date.
5. Describe the physical education resources at the school. Is there a gym? A swimming pool? Are there playing fields or tennis courts available?
Nice gym, great swimming pool and playing fields. The campus is small but lovely.
6. What is the approximate teacher-to-student ratio in the grades that your child attended?
Small classes with less than ten students in most of them.
7. Are Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses available in upper grades? If this is an IB school, is the full diploma required of all students?
Not sure. The academics are not strong at this school from what I can tell. They may have IB but at least at the younger grades, the academics left my kid behind when we got back to Northern Virginia.
8. Are students generally challenged appropriately by the curriculum? Please describe any particular strengths or weaknesses in this area. Do you have any thoughts how the curriculum is applied and implemented at this school?
In our experience, Portuguese instruction was poor, and the math was behind for the grade level. Otherwise, it was ok.
9. Is the amount and type of homework generally appropriate for the age and grade of the students?
Yes, homework levels seemed ok.
10. What fine arts electives are available (music, drama, visual arts)?
Yes, they had all of those.
11. Are the teachers at the school required to speak English as a first language--or at least fluently?
Yes, and they all spoke English well.
12. What services are available for gifted/advanced students at the school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
None.
13. What services are available for students with learning disabilities at this school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
There were not any I was aware of but ice have no direct experience.
14. What services are available for students with physical disabilities at this school? Please describe your experience with these services, if applicable.
Not that I was aware of.
15. What extra-curricular activities (including sports) are available at this school? Have your children participated in these activities? What activities do you feel are missing at the school?
My kid was in drama and enjoyed it somewhat.
Social & Emotional Well-Being:
1. What is the climate for LGBT+ kids at this school? Are there resources they can draw upon? Does there appear to be any exclusionary behavior?
Not great. The school wants to be inclusive but the general climate is very conservative. Angola is a very socially conservative culture , and most of the expats are not very tolerant either.
2. What is the climate for children with special needs? Is there a general attitude of inclusion for children with special needs?
Probably not good.
3. Do expatriate students socialize with local students at the school? Are both groups successfully integrated into the school culture?
Not much at all.
4. Are there are any problems with exclusionary behavior, cliques, or bullying at this school? Please describe any problems your children may have experienced in this area.
Yes, very much so and the school did not handle it well in our personal experiences. We saw, first hand, other kids bullied so much that they had to leave the school for their kids' sake. It was pretty awful.
5. What is the climate for students who identify as ethnic, race/racial minorities or religious minorities at this school? Are there resources they can draw upon? Have your children had any experiences in this area?
Not good.
6. What can you say about diversity among the faculty and staff at the school and their experience in supporting minority students?
In my opinion, I think they are a bit out to lunch honestly and while they have all the right signs posted, they did not seem to know what was happening with the students outside the classroom. Maybe they were not aware of how intolerant and just plain mean some of the kids could be to minorities, but they should have been.
Overall Impressions:
1. Please describe some of your child's/children's highlights and challenges during their time at this school.
no highlights really, just got through it.
2. What letter grade (ranging from A, excellent, to F, fail) would you assign to this school based on your overall experience? Would you choose it again?
C
3. Please tell us anything else you think prospective parents and students should know about this school. Thanks for your contribution!
This school is good for younger grades but I would avoid it above fifth grade.
