Stratford School Q&A Summary

[Think Expert]

A brief overview of the questions that were asked by parents during the Stratford School Q&A session

About the School

1: What are the differences between Stratford campuses?

Since each school’s geographical location is different, the campuses feel different. It is recommended that you take a field tour. During the epidemic, a campus tour can be arranged after school. Some campuses have relatively small sizes with only 100 students.

However, larger campuses like Pomeroy can have up to 900 students. The arrangement inside the classroom is mostly the same. Teachers from different campuses will receive unified training so that the teaching and progression of the courses are in sync across all campuses.

About the Teacher

1: What are the standards for interviewing teachers at Stratford? Do teachers from different campuses follow the same procedure for admission?

Primary school teachers need to have a Bachelor’s Degree or above and preschool and Pre-K teachers need to take credits for early childhood development.

During the interview and assessment process, the work experience of the teachers will be referred to. This includes teaching videos and learning results from previous students. Teachers will participate in special training at Stratford. Stratford School is under the Spring Education Group which has more than 270 schools that learn from the leading system in the learning industry.

2: Can I choose which teacher to go to at Stratford?

The class that a student is put into is determined by the school. Since all teachers have received the same training, Stratford has confidence in the teaching level of their instructors. Stratford believes that any of their teachers can meet the needs of students and parents!

3: What is the teacher-student ratio in each grade?

Preschool – Pre-K: 1:12

Kindergarten: 1:15

Grade 1: 1:24

Regarding Admission

1: What is the minimum entry age? When is the cut-off date for the elementary school?

Those who are over two and a half years old and can go to the bathroom independently (completely potty trained).

The cut-off date for the elementary school age is December 2nd. For children with birthdays in September and October, there is also a TK project for children with birthdays from September to December to prepare.

2: Entrance examination requirements?

There are no exam requirements for preschool and Pre-K. Children who enter kindergarten from Pre-K at Stratford do not require additional entrance exams.

However, if your child enters Starford from kindergarten, they will need to take an entrance exam. The entrance examination process for the 2021-2022 academic year has not been determined yet. The scope of the examination mainly focuses on understanding the alphabet and writing numbers 1-20.

If you are transferring this school year (20-21), you only need to provide the child’s progress report and a few work samples to ensure that the school project matches their progress.

3: 2021-2022 academic year registration and enrollment situation, is there a quota for transfer?

Admissions for the 21-22 school year will be carried out from February to March 2021. The admission is based on the expected enrollment date and the order of registration. This means that early registration can ensure that the child enters the ideal campus.

As of right now, all elementary school grades continue to enroll students. However, the quota for kindergarten is relatively small. Despite this, if there are enough families that sign up, the school will consider opening new classes.

Since children who attended preschool at Stratford usually go straight to kindergarten. The quota of transfers for kindergarten and grade 1 is relatively limited.

Pomeroy has 40 classrooms, 11 of which are assigned to preschool and Pre-K. To specify, preschool has 3-4 classes and Pre-K has 6-7 classes. In addition, kindergarten through grade 5 has 4-5 classes per grade.

Courses and Exams

1: In addition to Spanish, does the preschool program have any other language courses such as Italian and Chinese?

Currently, Spanish is a regular course for preschool. After-school Chinese courses are only offered at the preschool and Pre-K levels at the San Francisco and Los Angeles campuses. In the future however, Chinese courses might be offered at more campuses.

2: Does preschool have exams?

Pre-K and preschool have learning progress tests three times a year. Kindergarten learning progress exams include English and mathematics. The scope of the test will include all major subjects after entering grade 1.

What Activities Does Extended Care Have?

Because the Pomeroy campus is very large, there are more after-school activities than other campuses. Activities include tennis, football, golf, basketball, art, dance, cooking, Chinese, Indian, chess, lego robotics, writing clubs, and others.

The Writing Club has an activity where a Stanford professor will bring stories written by local children from many underdeveloped countries and regions. The children of the Stratford Writing Club will design illustrations. After the book is compiled, it will be sold to charity and all of the income will be used to support the education of children who write stories.

Campus Safety During the Epidemic

Preschool is taught in small classes and conducts daily routine health monitoring. If a student has symptoms and is suspected to have COVID-19, parents will be asked to take the child to the doctor or undergo a COVID-19 test.

From offline in June to now, no cases have been reported. All students including preschool children need to wear masks. In addition, the school has increased the amount of time for outdoor activities such as yoga where it is easy to maintain a safe distance.

If you have any other questions or topics of interest, leave a comment/message below! You can also contact the Stratford School admissions office here.

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