Shu Ren International School

Our kid has been going to Shu Ren for a few years and she loves it. The teachers are caring, the kids are great, and our daughter comes home every day with a big smile on her face. Plus it's cool to see that she now able to understand and speak Mandarin.

My son has been at Shu Ren since Pre-K 4. The education has deteriorated under new leadership since private equity bought the school. I highly discourage parents to choose Shu Ren if they do not speak Mandarin at home with their children. The school is still a safe place and celebrates Chinese culture. These are the best parts of the school. My son has always received marks of “meeting” or “exceeding” expectations on all report cards and prepress reports. Despite this, he was one of two 4th grade students to be forced to study Mandarin with 3rd graders this year. The school gave an exam to determine this placement with no warning about the high stakes character of the test. According to his teacher, my son is advanced in oral expression and comprehension. He is not as advanced at writing which is why he was held back. I spoke to the administrator in charge of mandarin curriculum about all of this. I explained that I was concerned my son would not be challenged in the oral aspects of the language and asked how we could support him with additional tutors and instruction. I also made it clear that my son’s confidence was impacted by being held back and that it was a strong preference he stay with his cohort. I explained how Mandarin instruction drove the decision to attend the school and how it was disappointing that they never informed us about his writing struggle on report cards. The administrator’s response was unprofessional and insulting. She never tried to understand my concern or perspective. She just kept repeating that 3rd graders and the other 4th graders spoke more mandarin at home and not to worry, my son was in fact learning a 4th grade curriculum with the third graders. It was simply a case of the other 4th graders being advanced and they would be learning a 5th grade curriculum. Shu Ren creates its own curriculum for Mandarin and can assign any grade level to whatever they choose, so this explanation was disingenuous. Please make sure your child speaks Mandarin at home. My son was in the school for 5 years and one day he was magically behind and being kept back without any warning. My valid concerns were met indignantly and disrespectfully. My son will not be returning to Shu Ren next year. If Mandarin instruction is your primary motivator in choosing Shu Ren and you don’t speak the language at home, I strongly urge you to choose another school.

This is the first year in seven years our kids won't be going to Shu Ren, having recently graduated. We started there (ages ago!) in kinder and 1st grade, respectively.Being at Shu Ren has been one of the most transformational and memorable events in our lives. Neither my wife nor I are Chinese, but we wanted the children to have a strong foundation in a foreign language and thought Chinese was a good one for them to be well versed in. Well, after years of being an involved parent there, I can say that we're glad about the decision we made. We also got much more from Shu Ren than we expected. We came for the Chinese but stayed for the IB. The International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Shu Ren has been so amazing that i can't begin to state its praises. We never thought such a well rounded education was possible in the elementary years, and IB and Shu Ren have exceeded our expectations.On top of the amazing education, the staff and parents have made Shu Ren all that much more special. From Jie and Tony--the founders--to Rebecca, the current head of school, to the parents, everyone is special and wonderful. We've made life-long friends through the school and parent community and are so lucky to have had the school as a part of our lives.Every once in a while you have to make a decision you're not sure about--whether it's worth it or whether it'll pay dividends. Sending our kids to Shu Ren was not such a decision. Sending our kids to Shu Ren was an investment, and one that's paid us back (and hopefully will reward society) multi-fold. We couldn't have made a better decision.

My child has been at Shu Ren for over 6 years and she loves it. She enjoys going to school. She is never "bored". With well over a dozen or more field trips and classroom workshops per school year, there is always something exciting going on at school.

We have been so pleased with the teachers, administration and IB curriculum. We are a non-Chinese speaking family and weren t sure how to measure progress. Much to our delight, my son passed a Mandarin fluency exam at age 4 thanks to his tremendous learning experiences from Shu Ren. The IB curriculum has made the boys very curious and they can constantly link ideas and concepts because of this global style of learning. The teachers are warm, compassionate and knowledgeable and have helped my sons become more confident. Initially they would never speak out in class and are now able to raise their hands and feel comfortable speaking in front of the class. I love how the teachers teach the kids the skills necessary to solve problems rather than solving problems for them. I remember seeing my son struggle with a puzzle and instead of stepping in to solve in, they helped give him tips so he could solve it himself. We are so fortunate that the social, emotional, language and interdisciplinary subject skills the boys are learning at Shu Ren have given them such a strong foundation that will provide them with so many options in the years to come.