Jakarta Intercultural School - happy to comment

[Puspawarna]

To help get the ball rolling in our promising new forum, let me say that a fair number of new expats are interested in whether JIS (Jakarta Intercultural School/Jakarta International School) is a good choice. For as long as my impressions remain valid I'll be happy to answer questions anyone has based on my personal experiences and what I know from friends.

My family has a long history with JIS. In November 2007 my son, then in 4th grade and freshly arrived from Cairo American College in Egypt, was rejected by PIE (Pondok Indah Elementary). That's a long story in and of itself but possibly of limited relevance since the people responsible for what was undoubtedly a mishandled situation are long gone. In recognition of the mistake, he was offered the opportunity to re-apply immediately (usually you have to wait a year, or at least that was the policy then) but we elected to keep him at AIS (Australian Independent School, formerly Australian International School), where he had enrolled meanwhile. He stayed at AIS until 6th grade, when he enrolled at JIS.

He completed 7 years - all of middle school and high school - at JIS and graduated in 2016.

Overall we were satisfied with the experience and I can't speak highly enough of the teachers there. We had some complaints about the administration and particularly the guidance counseling available to kids applying to American colleges, but the former is probably par for the course. As to the guidance counseling available, a lot probably depends on you and your kid. Had I known when he started 9th grade what we were in for, I would have strongly considered sending him to boarding school in the US, but I think I would still have elected to stay with JIS.

Generally speaking, it's a very good school and the right kid can get a great education there. If anyone has specific questions in the future, speak up (or write down) and I'll be happy to tell you anything I can.

(A final note - newcomers may be confused by all the "formerly international" schools in Indonesia. Bottom line, it says nothing negative about any of the schools that have changed their names; they have simply responded to what was a probably silly new rule by the Ministry of Education, decreeing that no school can call itself "international" as of sometime in early 2015. The schools I would look out for are the ones that have not updated their materials to reflect this, as it shows a lack of attention to detail and/or lack of resources.)

 

[El_Goretto]

So, I always heard that a school like JIS is internationally recognized and well-known. Would you say that this proved true when your son applied for college? Does the notoriety of the school played a part at all and if so, in what way?

 

[Puspawarna]

It's very hard for me to say whether his JIS diploma per se helped or hurt his applications. The only credible comment I heard was negative - a physicist friend with a long history in academia in the US said that a lot of universities are skeptical about the quality of international schools worldwide and aren't always ready to accept students who they aren't sure will be prepared. But that was a comment on international schools in general, not specific to JIS.

My guess is that it doesn't matter a whole lot one way or the other. JIS kids got into well regarded schools this year: Stanford, U Chicago, Berkeley and other UC schools, Cornell, and Reed, for example. But other schools rejected every JIS kid that applied: Harvey Mudd, for example, had several applicants and all were denied. These days such things are a bit of a crap shoot.

 

[waarmstrong]

Its an ungodly expensive place to consider for expats without a "package." If forum members are personally responsible for the costs of primary and secondary education for their children while in Jakarta, as we were, there may well be choices available that offer quality education at a better value.

 

[Puspawarna]

Yes, very good point! JIS is only an option for people on full expat packages. Hopefully people with good knowledge of alternatives will eventually post their observations as well.

 

[William King]

I have a lot of knowledge about schools in Indonesia, and about JIS specifically, but I have never worked there. I would recommend JIS to any parent, or teacher, provided, and this is a big proviso in Jakarta, provided you live less than an hour away.