International School introduces new incentives

The International School St Lucia has been providing its students with the highest quality of education on the island for seven years, and as a non-profit organization, its growth has suffered at the hands of the global recession for the last four of those years. Since its inception, the majority of students attending the school have been St Lucian, despite the public perception that it is a school for foreigners.

Since the downturn in international investment, the number of overseas businesses and contractors setting up on island has diminished, and consequently the school has found it extremely difficult to recruit new international students. At the same time many of its St Lucian families have been hit by the recession, and have struggled to keep their children at ISSL. Why do they persevere with finding the high fees, and why prioritise the expense of a private secondary school?

Parents of International School students scrimp, save and struggle because they are fully committed to ISSL’s curriculum, method and philosophy. The New Brunswick High School Diploma, which is awarded to graduates after two years in Grade 11 & 12, is an accredited qualification which is accepted in universities and colleges around the world, as evidenced by the dozens of ISSL graduates who gain places at tertiary institutions of their choice in Canada, the USA, England, Scotland and Ireland.

The Canadian education system is a particularly well-respected one, which recognises the need to produce young people who are ready to step into the workplace, college or university. Students are equipped with a solid diploma in academic, technical or vocational subjects, as well as soft skills developed through creative thinking, collaborative learning and self-regulated goal setting. The self-confidence imbued by the New Brunswick style of teaching is undeniable, and many of the students at ISSL are remarkable public speakers, innovators and inventors, young leaders of the future who will certainly be the change they seek.

The good news for new students interested in ISSL is that tuition fees are being reduced by more than 20 percent to make the school a more affordable option, and ISSL’s administration hopes to be able to increase numbers to a sustainable level, protecting the school’s longterm future as a centre of academic excellence in the southern Caribbean.

Also, for the first time special scholarships will also be available for the top 100 Common Entrance achievers for entry in September 2013’s Grade seven class, and for CXC students who achieve all Level 1s, and who wish to pursue a Canadian High School Diploma as an alternative to ‘A’ Levels in Grade 11 & 12. For candidates who are accepted for ISSL Scholarships, the school will subsidise half of the cost of fees for the first year.

Visitors are welcome to meet the team and look around the school which is upstairs at Super-J in Rodney Heights, and interested parents and students should contact Principal Charmaine Graves at 458-0989, or email principal@intschoolstlucia.com.