Comparing 3 schools side by side in USD.
GESM is on the Eurocampus at 75 Swaziland Street, Better Living Subdivision, Parañaque City, 1711, Metro Manila, Philippines. The two-hectare campus is shared with the Lycée Français de Manille and is part of the European International School complex on Eurocampus. The location places the school in southern Metro Manila with campus facilities that serve both schools on the same site.
GESM offers Kindergarten through Grade 12. From Kindergarten to Grade 10, students are enrolled in either the German Section or the English International Section; Grades 11–12 offer the IB Diploma Programme (DP) or the IB Career-related Programme (CP), taught in English and German.
GESM is a co-educational, secular, non-profit international day school. It operates on a two-section model (German and International) and does not provide boarding facilities.
GESM runs an Additional Needs Programme (ANP) to support students who require extra help beyond regular classroom instruction. Identification is through assessments, teacher observations, and family consultations. Support includes in-class or small-group/individual sessions and modified goals, with placement decided case-by-case; some support may incur additional fees.
GESM is a German government-recognized school abroad and is part of the network of German Schools Abroad; it is also a UNESCO Associated School. This reflects its official German government oversight and international accreditation.
GESM operates as a secular institution with no religious denomination affiliation. Ethics is mandatory, and students or parents may opt for Religion as an alternative.
All classes start at 7:30am. Kindergarten through Primary finish at 2:00pm each day; Secondary typically finishes at 2:00pm on most days and 3:30pm on some days. Afternoon clubs run 2:00pm–3:30pm, and supervised after‑care is available for Primary students until 3:30pm; a school bus service is available.
GESM outsources accredited bus providers for door‑to‑door transport with a bus attendant on each vehicle. Billing is arranged directly between families and the bus companies. Routes cover numerous areas around Makati, Parañaque, Alabang, and beyond, with published quarterly rates by area; current rates can be confirmed by the school. The transportation page lists area coverage and corresponding providers.
GESM is a day school with no boarding facilities. A school bus service is available on request, capable of picking up and dropping off at the doorstep to suit family needs. Families should confirm routes and availability with Admissions.
There is no formal uniform requirement. Students may wear regular everyday clothing, with GESM sweaters and shirts available for purchase and to be worn on field trips or as directed by staff.
The canteen is operated by Kitchen City and offers a varied menu that includes proteins, salads, snacks and vegetarian meals. Parents can pre‑order meals via the Kitchen City app, and students pay on site with a Meal Card that can be reloaded by parents online.
GESM uses a House System. In English Primary there are four houses: Bremen, Berlin, Münster and Frankfurt. The Grundschule will have two houses. Secondary houses are named after Philippine islands and animals: Bohol Sharks, Boracay Scorpions, Cebu Cobras and Palawan Eagles. House activities include sports, quizzes and charity drives, with House Leaders organizing activities and a year-end House Cup.
GESM is a non‑profit organisation governed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the German School Association Manila (GSA). The Board oversees strategic priorities, budget and major projects, while day‑to‑day management is led by the Head of School. GESM forms the European International School, Inc. (EIS) together with Lycée Français de Manille, with the GSA acting as liaison with authorities.
From early years (Kindergarten and Vorschule) through Grade 10, German European School Manila runs two parallel sections defined largely by medium of instruction: German and English. The German section follows a German curriculum, while the English section uses English-language instruction with English Early Years and English Primary following the IB Primary Years Programme, and a Cambridge IGCSE pathway in secondary. In Grades 5–10, the German stream leads to Realschulabschluss or Hauptschulabschluss after Grade 9 or 10, while the English secondary stream concludes with IGCSE in Grade 10 and DSD I in Grade 9. In Grades 11–12, both streams converge on the International Baccalaureate Senior Years, offering the IB Diploma Programme (DP) or the IB Career-related Programme (CP) with instruction in English and German. The IB Diploma Programme comprises six subjects (one from groups 1–5 and a sixth from group 6 or another from 1–5), with a mix of Higher Level and Standard Level courses and core requirements of Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and Creativity, Action, Service. GESM positions itself as multilingual and European/international in scope, part of the EuroCampus network, and aligned with IB and German-European standards.
GESM supports social and emotional learning (SEL) through a dedicated guidance counsellor and a strong focus on students' social-emotional development across both German and English sections, including anti-bullying initiatives and empathy-focused programming.
The school runs an Additional Needs Programme (ANP) with a multidisciplinary Student Support Team and Learning Support Plans, and can accommodate mild to moderate intellectual or cognitive impairment, behavioural or emotional difficulties, Specific Learning Disability, Executive Functioning deficits, high-functioning ASD, and Social-Communication Disorder.
The school states that mother tongue and foreign language programmes are available from pre-school, and the English Section Access and Inclusion Policy confirms inclusive support for learners, though a dedicated, stand-alone EAL program is not publicly disclosed.
Mental wellbeing is supported by the on-site School Clinic, which has two full-time nurses and offers health counseling and wellbeing-focused services, and guidance-led SEL activities such as anti-bullying and empathy programs.
Safeguarding and child protection are addressed with a zero-tolerance policy for abuse, plus 24/7 campus security monitoring and a school clinic, with clear procedures in place for safeguarding concerns.
1. First contact. Interested families should reach out to the school and/or arrange a campus visit. The school welcomes inquiries and invites families to take a look at the campus and programs before deciding.
2. Submission of primary requirements. Start the process by submitting the online application form, the last two report cards or development reports, and the Confidential Student Evaluation Form completed by the child's previous homeroom teacher. For Kindergarten and Pre-Primary (ages 3–5), download the appropriate form; for Grade 1–12, use the form intended for older students. These documents help the school assess the child's prior learning and readiness.
3. Assessment and interview. After the primary documents are received, the child is scheduled for an assessment interview with the head teacher of the relevant department, which may be online or on campus. Students entering Grades 6–9 may also take an admissions test in Mathematics and/or English before the interview. Special arrangements are possible for Grades 10 and up.
4. Submission of the application form and other requirements. Complete the rest of the enrollment requirements, including Form I-C Physical Examination Form, Form I-DEx (optional), Form I-F Confidential Student Evaluation Form, copies of last two reports, birth certificate, passport, Philippine visa stamp (if applicable), immunization record, parents' passports, and a digital ID photo. All documents must be submitted in German or English; translations should be verified by the issuing body or an embassy-accredited translator.
5. Approval and enrollment. Once the forms are submitted and the student is assessed by the Head Teacher, the family receives an official admission confirmation from GESM. The letter will note any pending forms or requirements that still need to be completed.
6. Payment of fees. Following admission confirmation, an invoice is issued by the accounting office with the amount due and payment deadline. The school accepts cash, cheque, or bank transfer, and payment details are on the invoice.
7. First day of school. After fees are paid, the teachers or the secretariat contact the family with information about the first day of school, required materials, and other logistics.
8. Age requirements. Kindergarten can begin at age three if the child is toilet-trained, weaned, and can eat independently. Children progress from Kindergarten to Vorschule/Pre-Primary and then to Grade 1, with promotions based on age cut-offs (five turning five before August 31 advances to Vorschule, six turning six before August 31 enters Grade 1). Exceptions to the age rules can be made after discussion with the teachers.
Scholarships: No scholarship program is documented on the school's published admissions or fees materials. The School Fees page lists the membership, entrance, and refundable deposit, plus tuition in Euro and PHP, with notes on currency options and payment timing, but it does not describe any scholarship awards or eligibility.
Waitlist/Pool: There is no published waitlist or enrollment-pool procedure described in the admissions materials. The process published for enrollment moves from initial contact to required documents, assessment/interview, approval, and then enrollment, subject to available spaces.
The school is located at 339 Robinson Circle, Capt. Henry Javier Drive, Oranbo, Pasig City, 1600 Philippines. The Pasig City location places it within the greater Manila area, along a residential-urban corridor. The campus address is the main point of contact for inquiries and visits.
VCIS offers preschool, elementary (grade school), high school, and college preparatory education. The school began a Homeschool Program two years after its 2010 rebranding to Victory Christian International School.
VCIS is a co-educational day school. There is no boarding facility advertised for any year group.
Public information about Additional Learning Needs (SEN) provisions is not listed on VCIS materials. The school emphasizes Christian character, academic excellence, and leadership development rather than publicly detailing SEN support.
No formal country affiliation is listed. The school operates in the Philippines as VCIS.
Religious affiliation is Christian (non-denominational). The school is founded and operated within a Christian framework.
The school day typically runs from around 7:00–8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; some listings show 8:00 AM–5:00 PM. Exact start and end times vary by grade level and campus.
VCIS does not publish a dedicated school bus service. Families should plan transport through local public options; the campus is accessible by nearby public transit, including jeepneys and bus routes in the area.
The school was founded in 2000 as Victory Christian School by Victory, a non-denominational Christian church, under Bishop Manny Carlos. In 2010 it became Victory Christian International School and began offering its Homeschool Program.
Victory Christian International School offers basic and college preparatory education with an emphasis on Christian character, academic excellence, and leadership development. The curriculum is Biblically integrated and framed by a Biblical worldview, with Bible incorporated across subjects and a strong focus on character formation. VCIS Online provides a full virtual campus anchored on that Biblically integrated curriculum, with synchronous and asynchronous learning, daily homeroom mentorship, and structured student engagement. Integrated Hybrid offers weekly in-person activities alongside online classes to balance online learning with hands-on work. The Excellence Track provides after-school programs in arts, music, sports, and languages, including Mandarin, keyboard, dance, taekwondo, violin, and vocal technique. VCIS serves primary through high school levels and began offering a Homeschool Program in 2012.
VCIS Online includes daily homeroom meetings to target mentorship, student engagement, and relationship building. The online and hybrid programs also feature a calendar of virtual and face-to-face activities and student clubs with leadership opportunities through the student council. The school's mission emphasizes Christian character, academic excellence, and leadership development, which underpin social-emotional growth through values-based education. The integrated VCIS Online and Integrated Hybrid formats provide interactive, group-learning experiences designed to balance academics with social development. A standalone SEL program is not described in publicly available materials; the described provisions function to support social-emotional development.
The school does not publicly disclose information regarding SEN support. Public materials describe Christian character, academic excellence, and leadership development rather than specific SEN services. VCIS is not described as a specialist SEN institution on publicly available pages. There is no explicit mention of staff such as learning support specialists or SEN coordinators in the available materials. The school does not publicly disclose information regarding accommodations for various learning needs.
The school does not publicly disclose information regarding EAL support. Mandarin is listed as a language program, and English is the language of instruction, but there is no explicit EAL program described. The materials emphasize Biblical principles and Christian education rather than EAL-specific provisions. EAL-specific provisions cannot be confirmed from publicly available sources. Therefore, EAL support details are not publicly disclosed.
VCIS Online includes daily homeroom meetings to target mentorship, student engagement, and relationship building, which supports student wellbeing. The school's mission—emphasizing Christian character and leadership development—contributes to students' wellbeing and resilience. There is no explicit description of a dedicated mental health program or school counselor on publicly available pages. Social connectedness is supported through student clubs and leadership opportunities. A standalone mental wellbeing program is not publicly disclosed on the available pages.
The school does not publicly disclose information regarding safeguarding and child protection policies. Public materials do not provide safeguarding policy details. The contact and program pages do not present safeguarding-specific information. The school presents a Christian leadership framework rather than explicit safeguarding provisions. Therefore, safeguarding details are not publicly disclosed on publicly accessible pages.
Aguinaldo International School Manila is located at 1113-1117 San Marcelino Street, Ermita, Manila 1000, Philippines. The campus sits in the central Ermita/Paco area, a densely built urban district with ready access to public transport and local amenities.
The school offers Pre-School, Elementary and High School, including a Senior High School program, with an SPED department available for students with additional learning needs.
Aguinaldo International School Manila is a private, international day school.
AIS opened a SPED program in 2015 to cater to students with special needs, and it maintains a dedicated SPED department; the Senior High School program began in 2016.
AIS does not have a formal country affiliation; it operates as an international school in Manila, Philippines.
No religious affiliation is listed for the school.
The school day runs from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, with operation including Saturdays.
AIS offers a school bus service; fares start from 4,000 PHP per month for two-way transportation, with the bus arrival at 7:15 am and departure at 4:00 pm.
AIS uniforms consist of a red AIS polo shirt, navy socks, and black shoes with a flat sole; boys wear beige pants or shorts and girls wear beige skirts. Uniforms must be purchased from the school bookstore. Fridays are school spirit days when students may wear jeans with a 'We Y AIS' shirt.
Students may bring healthy lunches to school or avail hot nutritious meals in the dining hall. The hot lunches include rice, vegetables, fruit and meat.
AIS Manila runs Pre-School, Elementary, and Senior High School. Pre-School levels are Nursery (3-4), Kinder (4-5) and Prep (5-6), with a curriculum covering language, arts, math, science and geography and an emphasis on early reading, writing and social development. Elementary curriculum centers on digital literacy, inventive thinking, interpersonal skills and the six facets of understanding (explaining, interpreting, applying, shifting perspective, empathizing, self-understanding) and extends the national curriculum with international standards to prepare students for American colleges and local universities. Core subjects Civics, English, Math and Science are taught in English in an in-house curriculum with small class sizes and differentiated instruction; non-core subjects include Filipino, Mandarin, Art, Music, ICT, PE and Home Economics, assessed by quizzes and performance tasks. The school follows the National K-12 grading system (A, P, AP, D, B) and recognizes achievement with merit certificates and medals. Senior High School offers a General Academic Strand under the DepEd Academic Track.
AIS Manila supports social and emotional learning (SEL) through the Guidance Department, which provides counseling, classroom observations, values education, career planning, and university guidance, and runs anti-bullying campaigns; advisory classes use developmentally appropriate modules to support wellbeing, and Wellness Week activities promote emotional wellbeing.
AIS Manila opened a SPED program in 2015 to serve students with special needs, featuring four SPED tracks (Mainstreaming, Academic Self-contained, Adaptive Self-contained, Functional Academics) and partnerships with occupational therapists, speech therapists, pediatricians and other providers; individualized education plans (IEPs) are developed with regular team meetings to tailor support.
The ESL program is open to non-native English speakers, with Beginners placed in full-time ESL, Intermediates integrated into mainstream classrooms with pull-out support, small class sizes, and a curriculum targeting listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
Mental wellbeing is supported by the School Counselor and Guidance Department through counseling, social skills support and advisory wellbeing content, and is complemented by Wellness Week activities to promote healthy lifestyles and emotional wellbeing.
Safeguarding is addressed via an Anti-Bullying Policy, in loco parentis supervision, and incident reporting; health measures include new-student medical checkups and annual dental checkups, with emergency treatment at Medical Center Manila, all within a closed campus supervised by staff.
1. Initial eligibility and document requirements. Aguinaldo International School (AIS) accepts students from all nationalities. Official transcripts and/or official report cards are required depending on the student's country of origin. Slots can be reserved online and followed up later with the completion of an application form and an entrance exam. Payment of school fees is required for official enrollment.
2. Application materials to submit. The forms required are the Application Form, the Student's Background Information Sheet, and the Parent Interview Form. These forms collect background information and help schedule necessary interviews. After you submit these forms, AIS reviews the materials to determine the next steps in the process. Make sure transcripts and other official documents accompany your submission if requested.
3. Entrance exams and grade placement. AIS administers an external aptitude test and an in-house Math/English test to determine grade placement. There is also a get-to-know-you component that assesses personality, learning style, creativity, and interests. The combined entrance exams take about two hours and can be scheduled between 8am–3pm, Monday through Saturday, in advance.
4. Enrollment payments and discounts. Payment of school fees is required for official enrollment. An early payment discount applies to payments made before June 1. An additional 10% discount is available for cash payments. A sibling discount is applied on the youngest child's tuition: 2 kids = 25%; 3 kids = 50%; 4 kids = 75%; 5 kids = 100%.
5. Scholarships available. AIS offers scholarships to new and/or continuing students beginning in Grade 7. There are two kinds of scholarships: Athletic (for competitive swimmers) and Academic (for valedictorians). To apply, request a scholarship application form at the admissions office.
6. Final steps and inquiries. After completing the required steps and being informed of placement, families proceed with enrollment and fee payment to secure the place.
AIS offers two scholarships beginning in Grade 7: Athletic (for competitive swimmers) and Academic (for valedictorians). Scholarships are available to new and/or continuing students, and applicants should request a scholarship application form at the admissions office.
AIS does not publish a waitlist or pool policy in its admissions materials. There is no publicly described waitlist process on the admissions page. Prospective families should contact the admissions office to confirm current waitlist status and availability.
