On the 21 July, the first day of classes for the 2009-2010 academic year, this is how the enrolment statistics look:Total enrolment: 579
Grades 11 & 12: 245
Grades 6-10 (MYP): 279
Grades PL-5 (PYP): 55
New enrolment: 163
56% male / 44% female
53% Indian / 47% non-India (representing some 28 nationalities)
We have 3 SAGE students, 6 German exchange, 2 Carey Baptist exchange and 3 visiting students – one the son of an alumnus, one from Germany and the other from France. Just today we have accepted a further German student and a three girls (siblings) who will all arrive next week.
We welcome 38 new staff children which means that housing is well accommodated and that we have a full faculty.
Highclerc has had a face lift with walls white-washed and floors polished. Classrooms have had some reconfiguration – especially in the Middle School Building which is now known as the Arts Block. Grounds have been well tidied and are looking trim and green.
Ganga Campus has undergone a major renovation with the addition of four new classrooms and an extended kitchen and dining hall. This campus now accommodates grades K-8 which number 173 students. I visited this morning and am pleased to report that teachers are smiling and kids active!
In terms of dorms, Swedish House is now abuzz with boys grades 4-7, Westover has been taken over by girls, grades 4-8 and Loch End is back to boys grades 10-12. Phelps has become our grade 9 girls’ dorm, Mayvilla grade 9 boys and Crescent Park grade 8 boys. Eight dorm parents have changed places. Whew!
Our three day orientation program went smoothly despite some last minute venue changes. Parents have now returned home and although we shared some tears with a few, they left satisfied that KIS was the right choice for their children! Kodai kids are not only being offered a solid education that will see them accepted into some of the best colleges worldwide, but an adventure through and beyond the core subjects – drama, music, PE … hiking will start next weekend, as will SoEx … first canteen on Saturday and Bendy Field will be full of “fly babas” this Sunday as ultimate frizbee fever takes hold … field trip week is not too far away. And so the semester will go – schedules formed up, activities discovered and friendships formed.
The Admissions office is pretty much back to routine procedures – cabinets emptying out as the new students’ files are taken up to the academic offices, and desks a little less clogged with pieces of paper! We know that this quiet time won’t last long and already have a number of appointments in the diary regarding July 2010 applications. The information receptions held in Nairobi in June were a success with one student firmly enrolled for this July and a prospective family visiting in August.
We look forward to the coming months during which time we anticipate as much interest in KIS as we had last year.
