Stella Maris International School Reviews (14)

Average Ratings

Overall 2.98
Facilities 3.11
Academics 3.33
Teachers 2.78
Sports 4.00
Music & Arts 2.89
Science & Tech 3.56

Reviewer Nationalities

Malaysian (6) Filipino (1) Chinese (1)

How would you rate Stella Maris International School?

Rachel, 23/08/2023 @ 07:04:32
Relationship   Parent

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I have sent my child to Stella Maris (Damansara Height's branch) for Secondary (Junior high), it's really sad and disappointing to know that good teachers are leaving 1 by 1. Just imagine within 1 month few teachers left at the same time. Currently students are struggling with their studies, especially those who are in Year 10 and Year 11. They are going to face their final year exam and teachers hired are not professional, especially handling teenagers. I got to know from my child that the teacher told the entire class that she is giving up on them! Some teachers don't really show patient and support to the students. When a student did they very best, there is no encouragement word from the teachers, and all the student gets are complaints on their work is not good enough. This is really sad, as per my understand their Elementary School is really good. Good principal and good teachers. I just can't understand why there is a big GAP between Elementary and Secondary (especially the Principal and Teachers). For those who planned to continue their kids to Stella Maris High School, please reconsider... we are talking about our kids future...

Shriyaah, 16/06/2023 @ 15:05:54
Relationship   Pupil

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It's not a good school, I am a student, teachers aren't good, too much stress, they ban almost everything and they don't take any suggestions from parents plus they don't care about the kids

Eden, 17/05/2023 @ 09:14:17
Relationship   Pupil

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Their clubs, sports, and academics are good for the fees.

Charles, 03/11/2022 @ 06:40:22
Relationship   Ex Pupil

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The majority of the teachers at Stella Maris are not mediocre, not amazing, they're just average. Every student at least deserves to have teachers who are not only able to teach them, but able to teach them well. Also, a small minority of the genuinely empathetic and competent teachers are dwindled even further by the school's absurd rules and low pay, which has resulted in them leaving the school in search of schools with better pay.

jayden, 25/05/2022 @ 10:54:15
Relationship   Parent

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The english teachers there not caring at all and very rude but sports teacher are friendly

Nicholas Yong, 13/04/2022 @ 16:17:53
Relationship   Ex Pupil

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The school did hire great admin staff to come up with literal LIES when it comes to marketing, but I will give credit where it's due. Where should I start, I've been a student of this school since 2017 when the secondary sector first switched from the government school syllabus to the CIE IGCSE syllabus. Have to say, I had a blast during the first two years of my high school life. The old SMIS teaching faculty consisted of a lineup of the best teachers I've ever had and these educators were really passionate about what they do. Not to say they aren't any of these types of teachers currently teaching, just a minority, which is quite sad to hear. The school's quality started dropping significantly during 2019 when a new headteacher was assigned. At first, things were still quite good, nothing much changed. It all went downhill drastically when a few new teachers came in. These teachers shouldn't even be called 'teachers', 'bullies' is more of an accurate term to call these bunch. They were infamous as their speciality was to literally bully students into complying with whatever they wanted. Surprisingly, one of these new teachers became head of the discipline within a span of 3 months being in the school, which is quite odd as usually the role was given to someone who has the necessary experience. Teaching one-to-one lessons shouldn't be considered an 'experience' when it comes to an educational institution. What's worse is that a lot of parents and students filed multiple complaints against these teachers, but the headteacher simply decided to ignore ANY of these issues and allowed these people to continue making the student's school life a living hell. In fact, these teachers are still in the school today. Besides, the school requires us to pay so much, yet as students, we get so little in return. The facilities that were promoted on their websites and social media platforms are nothing more but a facade as I had never ever even dipped my toes into the swimming pool as we weren't allowed to go even near there unless WE PAY MORE to join the 'swimming club'. The school is also known to pay their teachers unsustainable wages as most of them were paid minimum wage, even though they have been in the school since it was first opened. hence, why most of the old staff left the school in search of other schools that can pay them fairly.

Tristan De Paul, 17/03/2022 @ 04:55:46
Relationship   Pupil

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Think twice before commenting, am a secondary student of Stellar Maris and it is really good to me. its a really good school ,So please consider before putting them down with bad comments.

Sabrina, 08/01/2022 @ 02:02:38
Relationship   Parent

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Good school. Excellent service.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ, 14/10/2021 @ 07:03:16
Relationship   Pupil

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I am a student at this school for a long time and I would like to share my thoughts on this school and its reputation. The fees are actually quite affordable. However, they are quite high compared to other international schools. The school can be uncoordinated at times. Some teachers are also dissatisfied with the way that the management works. One of the worst things that the school has is the website that they use called Schoology. It's not only bad for the students but it's also very slow and sometimes it doesn't load properly. Some teachers are known for being able to do their job well and being able to empathize with their students. Unfortunately, there are a lot of teachers out there who are not able to do their job due to the stress that they put on themselves. Most of the discipline teachers are not good at teaching and do not know how to empathize with their students. They are also not able to disagree with how they do things.

Reviews from Google

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Isaac Cheong Ee Xin, 2 months ago


Hi I just want to say think twice before commenting. I am a primary student of Stellar Maris and it is really good to me. I have better understanding there because they use English to teach, and they really want the best for us. They work hard every day and did a lot of sacrifices during the online classes. So please consider before putting them down with bad comments.

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Jayden Eli Bennet Jolly, 3 months ago


Very Nice school Don't read all those bad comments the teachers are good.

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Nicholas Sze Tho, 4 months ago


As an ex student of SMIS, I suggest you do not send your children here. This is because the school's student capacity is overflowing and thus the school cannot hold all of their students well. Big Class rooms have been cut in half just to make space for new students. In other words, the school decides to takes in more students than they can handle despite having limited spaces. Students are also forced to sit out in the basketball court for assembly because of this problem. It is not as fancy or better as it seems. You get what you pay for, though the price is attracting compared to other international schools but their quality is definitely lower. Teachers are, from what I heard, underpaid which causes a few of the more "experienced" to leave the school. While there are good teachers and many of them are not well trained to handle big classes. The School also has a lot of restrictions which are really unnecessary such as jacket and hair tie colours that does not affect a students studies at all. For an international school they would not even let us students bring our phones or laptops. Some parents feels that its unfair that the price they're paying for does not match up to what the school is providing. They are paying the amount but getting the same result as what a government school would give. The school's facilities are decent but some facilities are not open to the students such as the school's pool. The school's science labs are the only facilities that are good. Besides all of the above, there aren't any other major problems. I hope this will help give you a better inside view of how this school is actually like.

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frogling h, 4 months ago


I am a student at this school, having been here a long time and I'm going to give my personal, honest review of my experience here as a student and am in no way shape or form trying to harm our school's image or reputation, these are my personal thoughts on the school and I want to share my experience The fees are actually affordable and you could say "cheap" for an international school as you would find other international schools charge way more. The problem is that is it worth it to send your child to this school? I want to start off with the management of the school. I would say that the school can be a bit uncoordinated at times, and some teachers are also unhappy with the way that the management does things. I feel that the website that the school is currently using for teachers to assign works to their students and update boards is the worst. Many many teachers and students are unhappy with the website the school uses called "Schoology" and i believe there are so many better alternatives like google classroom or even a whatsapp chat group. The website is clunky and slow and sometimes it even affects the online classes when it doesn't load and at best it only does the bare minimum. I've missed many classes during MCO due to the website causing problems for either the teacher or the students. The next thing I want to talk about are the teachers for lower secondary and upper secondary. Some teachers know how to do their job well, they know how to communicate with students and empathize with them and be patient and understanding with students. The sad part is that the many teachers who have been some of my favorites and acted as my role model for my high school life have left, either because of being offered better and higher paying jobs at somewhere else, or because they cannot handle the stress that the management puts on them. Teachers are humans too and they are prone to mental health issues, many of them are stressed out and tired as well. And there is another group of teachers who are the opposite, they are impulsive, uncaring, rude, arrogant and narcissistic, no matter what situation they think that they are always right and some of them are the really good at gaslighting and guilt tripping. The worst part is that this is MOST of the discipline teachers. They do not know how to empathize with students and are constantly breathing down students' neck for the smallest thing. You can see why even some of their fellow teachers dislike and disagree with the way they do things. The only good discipline teacher has left, and he was honestly the best so it was a shame to see him leave as he would be strict but know when to let loose. Now after talking about the personalities and attitudes of some teachers, I want to talk about them from an educational point of view. There are some teachers who can definitely teach well but there are also some who I believe should not be employed as a teacher. I've had experiences with both types and I think the school can be better when it comes to hiring good teachers. Some teachers help me understand a topic almost immediately, and some teachers make me so confused on a topic that I have to go home and self teach myself, I know not all teachers can be perfect but I believe certain standards should be met, especially being fluent at English in a school with an English speaking curriculum. The facilities are decent, but most of them remain unused due to the coronavirus and honestly i would say they are average with a medium sized field and sports center, they haven't fixed the first floor male toilet door in two years though, the rules are fine but some rules are just absurd as you can't wear jackets with designs, how is that supposed to affect my education? The school is overly populated and I believe that there are way too many people that the school can hold at the moment, no prom as the school overreacts when a boy touches a girl for some reason. canteen food is decent, this sums up my thoughts/experience at this school

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Rainbow, 3 months ago


The last thing you will think is the teachers...Shockingly, they are bullies! Absolutely no passion in teaching. Always sour face. Took my child out immediately!! Shame on you!

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