The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

88 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 4 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT F R O M T H E D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 1 S C H O O L S U P P L E M E N T Pia Schou Nielsen, “Looking for a Good School Abroad?” “A ccording to the State Department’s Family Liaison Office, there are approximately 10,000 children in Foreign Service families, of whom about 7,200 are school-age. Around 93 percent of those children attend local schools located in the city of assignment. Five percent enroll in boarding schools, and the other 2 percent are homeschooled by their parents. “Foreign Service life offers these children many rewards: excitement, diversity, intellectual stimulation and a sense of self-sufficiency. But it also poses many challenges, a major one being the identification of schools that nurture educational and social development rather than disrupting it. Even in developed nations, find- ing schools with high educational standards that also give American students the opportunity to interact with the local culture can be difficult. And the selection process must be repeated every few years, often in very different settings. Fortunately, help is available!” Family Liaison Office Department of State M/DGP/FLO Room 1 Washington, D.C. 20520 (202) 647-1076 www.state.gov/www/flo E-mail: FLO@perms. us-state.gov Office of Overseas Schools Department of State www.state.gov/www/ about_state/school E-mail: overseas s chool@dos.us- state.gov The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) 1620 L St. NW, St. 1100 Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 973-9753 www.schools.com E-mail: tabs@ schools.com ISS Directory of Overseas Schools International Schools Services P.O. Box 5910 Princeton, NJ 08543 (609) 452-0990 www.isu.edu E-mail: iss@iss.edu Peterson’s Directory of Private Secondary Schools Peterson’s Guides P.O. Box 2123 Princeton, NJ 08543 www.petersons.com/ private USEFUL CONTACTS: