Dear Parents,

Back from tours and all students are safe and sound. The students and teachers will begin presenting their tours in both classes and during chapel times on Wednesdays. It seems that the tours went well, particularly the Thailand tour. We are happy to have them back and are already planning next year's tours and a mission trip. The mission trip is one that we had hoped to take this year but decided to postpone for one year to allow more time for planning. It will be to Cambodia.

There is more news to share with you today, and I will continue to provide periodic updates. Thanks for the feedback for those who responded to the request for info I sent out last time! It is appreciated and has helped to set the course for some of our decisions on next year.

Calendar 2008-2009

A calendar is in the finishing stages. Normally this would have been published already but as a new school we are trying to create traditions and annual events which will accommodate our growing student body. But, for planning purposes you can set your calendars for September 1 as the first day of the coming academic year. As soon as this is published I will alert the parents and it will be added to our new website which we hope to launch on May 20'ish.

Tuition:

Next year's tuition rates will increase. For *new* students the rates will increase significantly to 98,000 for tuition and 40,000 for a five-day boarder. PLEASE NOTE, however, that if you are reading this email that new fee does *not* apply to you. We have greatly appreciated having your students here with us this year and to show our appreciation are not asking current parents/students to pay the full increase. The rate that current students/parents will pay for room and board will remain unchanged. The rate that current students/parents pay for tuition will raise from 65,000 to around 79,000. A formal notice of this will be sent out to parents in a few weeks, but I wanted to give you some information on it as soon as possible.

Deposits:

For returning students and new students deposits will be required to hold a place. We expect to enroll around 60 students in the fall. This will be a net increase of only about 45 students from what we have now, adjusted for those who we know will not be returning. We have several new students who have already committed for next year and we haven't yet begun our advertising. We currently have between 35-40 places open. For those students who have returned our "reapplication" slip, we have voted on them and you may expect to receive a letter announcing our decision within the next week. After receiving the letter, if the student has been accepted, please transfer money at your convenience and be sure to email us a scanned copy of the receipt so we can properly credit your account.

Newspaper Ads:

After the new website is live we will begin our newspaper ad campaign. We will have advertisements in both the Standard and the South China Morning Post. There will be ads in the Standard for several weeks and I will alert you to the dates once the website has been launched.

Dorm Rooms:

Finally we have been able to find someone who can refurnish our dorm rooms at a reasonable price with quality furniture that also looks nice. All students will have completely new furnishings installed on May 25. They will be dark wood beds, desks, wardrobes, and a couch. We will also purchase a small rug and desk chairs for each room. We are excited about the new rooms and we expect that students will be much more comfortable and will also have more storage space.

Have a good week!

Best,
Kris