The International School invests MOP180 mln in expansion

The International School of Macao (TIS) is investing MOP180 million (US$22.4 million) in Phase II of its campus in order to increase capacity to 1,600 students. Yesterday, TIS held the official launch of the construction of the new wing, which will be five floors high.
“We are hoping that we can open the building in September of this year.
We will be able to extend student room capacity by around 33 per cent, which means a maximum capacity of 1,600 students. We will be able to accept an additional 400 students with this building. We are investing MOP180 million”, the head of the School, Howard Stribbell, said during the event.
In fact, TIS campus has the capacity for 1,000 students and is located inside the Macau University of Science and Technology campus, in Taipa.
“We have been working on this project for almost two years. We knew that with the success TIS was experiencing we were going to have to increase our space so we could have more students coming. This building holds 1,000 students but we have 1,200 students in attendance. We knew we needed more space because we have the students all packed in”, the head of TIS explained.
Extra school facilities for students
The new wing will provide a 2-storey library, purpose-built classrooms for kindergarten and high school students, auditorium, extra music, drama and computer labs and covered playgrounds.
“The construction is going to pose some difficulties for some time. But otherwise, attendance continues to go up, as more and more students want to come to our school. We are just experiencing more and more success”, Howard Stribbell said.
However, the number of students accepted by the school will continue to be limited during the coming years because of the lack of space to expand the campus further.
“There are always more students trying to get in and I wish I had more space so we could accept more. But we are limited in space. Our parents and community would love to see a swimming pool and a gymnasium in this school”, he said.
The International School of Macao provides education services that range from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12.