St. Dominic's International School Reviews (37)
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How would you rate St. Dominic's International School?
I attended St.Dominic's from ages 6 to 18, and my experience was a tale of two schools. The very positive valuation below of the facilities, teachers, academics, reflects the majority of my experience - even without rose-tinted glasses, it was truly great. Although we did have some teachers that were not as good - particularly in IT and DT -, the teachers were overall wonderful educators. I loved to learn here, to participate, and to do community service - and I can say that my classmates (even the rowdy ones) did too :) I would say the school embodied the IB pedagogical approach and more. The nuns who led the school (shoutout to the lovely sister Patricia) with the then headmistress, took care to make the school a loving, multicultural, thriving educational community. It felt like a little village or family. However, when the management changed, unfortunately the quality plummeted, and this was during my last 2-3 years at this school I believe. It was a palpable change, which visibly affected our teachers (many of whom left at the time), and the management's obsession with profit decreased the care and quality provided to students. The school environment in itself also degraded - from taring down green spaces, 'getting rid' of the pups the community had adopted, to erecting 'container' unproperly insulated classrooms (that seem to have proliferated since I've left)... If I were to classify the last two years, it would be given a Poor performance - and only not 'very poor' because of the teachers who made sure to give us the best they could despite the difficulties. I wish the best for this school, I truly hope that it will re-establish it's former pedagogical, educational and nurturing excellence, but from what I have heard it has been difficult. From the pictures I've seen, it seems like the play areas and green spaces are mostly gone, being replaced by 'container' structures.. I would kindly remind the current management that a school is not a 'factory'. Overall, if I was living in Portugal and had school-age children, I would pay a visit to St.Dominic's and try to understand its current state, pedagogical approach, and the school community's environment. However, if the ship has stayed the course it was setting when I graduated, I would most definitely opt for another school.
Reviews from Google
Recent reviews posted on Google.
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Lm C, a month ago
just writing to say I am flabbergasted by some bad reviews left here. Is the school perfect ? No Does it deserve one star ? No The school have already started a major overhaul of their installations in the last couple of years, have pulled out from the ground the new senior building in less than 4 months in order to be ready for September 2018/19 It might take a few more years for the school re-do to be finished but it is getting there. We also have traveled around the world and went through a bunch of international schools, here my kid in senior is thriving , very satisfied with the curriculum and would not want to go to any other international school to pass her diploma. I know the school for the last five years, in my experience St Dominic always have been trying to improve and always have done their best to address issues. More is coming and I am sure they will resolve management matters in the future.
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Stefan, a month ago
Our son is at Saint Dominic's since 2 years and he is happy there. The education level is very similar to the other international schools he has been at. Some teachers are better than other, but this is normal. The results of the school seem to be within the average of international schools. A comment to the 1 * ratings: I find it very strange that nearly all of them have just one rating posted in Google, this looks like they have just been created to bring the school rating down. Please have a look yourself. Definitely 1 * is not correct or fair.
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Raquel Maille, a month ago
If you are looking for a school that gives strong academic foundation or progress for your children, this is not the place to look. Its below average. Will children be happy here? Oh yes. A school without rules, standards and expectations - usually quite hard to find children who don't like this Can you compare this to the standards of the International Schools that all have waiting lists ? Absolutely not. There are great schools, average schools and then schools like St Dominics that are below average and below standard. But that works for some people. If you are not expecting university entrance for your children and have very low standards for them this place will work.
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Martim Almeida, 3 weeks ago
St Dominic’s has for the many years lived on its past good reputation but that is fast coming to an end. It is a for profit school that is now full of locally hired teachers, many with poor English and also with no IB or international teaching experience. Some can even be questioned if they have any teaching qualification. The owners employ many family members in key positions to keep tight power. There are many stories from past teachers of poor treatment of staff and unfair labour practices relating to salaries and compensation My advices is to scratch the school off your list.
