I started a homeschool for my son when he was about 3 years old. We had been to many of the Thai schools in the area and none of them were a good fit. I wanted to make sure that my son had the opportunity to express his creativity, practice critical thinking, ask questions, and have fun while learning. So I took a classroom at my language school and converted it into a space where I could bring my son every day to learn, play, and have fun. Within a few months, other parents had heard about the class and three more kids had joined. Within another six months, more kids had joined the class, and I had created a second class for the younger siblings. When my son and his friends reached the time to go into Grade 1, my wife and I made the decision to open up the first, and only, international school in Surat Thani.
STIS officially began in August, 2014. We had four classes with a total of 24 students, four western teachers, and four Thai teachers. It was pretty tough and an enormous amount of work, but year by year the school expanded and experienced strong success. We continually stayed true to our initial goals of fostering creativity, empowering our students with confidence, a commitment to the enjoyment of learning, and the building of a supportive community amongst students, teachers, and parents. By our 6th year we had full enrollment for many of our grade levels and classes. We are now in our 7th year (2020-2021) and have 15 classes with a total of 237 students, 18 western teachers, and 24 Thai teachers.
It has been a remarkable journey and to see so many students and teachers thrive here has been the greatest reward.
by Peter C. Meltzer, STIS Founder
