Looking back on the journey of her eldest daughter, Khánh Ly (alumna of 12Columbia)—from a quiet, introverted girl to a confident student delivering presentations in front of her class and boldly earning a scholarship from Glion Institute, one of the most prestigious schools in Switzerland—Ms. Giang cannot help but feel emotional. Her joy is multiplied as she continues to witness the growth of her three younger daughters: Linh Hương (6Manchester), Trúc Linh (8Hanko), and Khánh Ngọc (Jasmine, Sakura Schools). After five years accompanying Dewey and over a year with Sakura Schools, Ms. Giang firmly believes, “The values these two schools have brought to my children far exceed what we initially expected.”
When choosing a school for her children, Ms. Giang believes that a good school does not force students to become the “best,” but rather one where they grow up happily and develop holistically. “What I appreciate most about Dewey and Sakura is that the schools do not force children into a fixed mold; instead, they allow them to develop according to their strengths through diverse experiences,” she shared.
There were times when she worried about Khánh Ly’s introverted nature, but after just three years at Dewey, her daughter surprised her by proactively exploring career paths and deciding to study abroad. Thanks to strong language preparation and self-learning skills developed at Dewey, Khánh Ly quickly adapted to university life and was ready for her first internship in her freshman year.
Both Trúc Linh and Linh Hương have had abundant opportunities to pursue their passions at Dewey. Trúc Linh shared, “The arts programs at Dewey are thoughtfully invested—from the music studio to the visual arts room—giving me space to explore and develop my creativity. With encouragement from teachers, I even wrote my first poem and composed rock music.”
Meanwhile, the youngest sister studying the IB program, Linh Hương, has shown an early passion for learning. She is continuously exposed to research projects and presentations, encouraged to read widely, and empowered to express her viewpoints in class. Despite being only in Grade 6, she is already interested in elections and often debates enthusiastically with her father about current affairs and sports. Each child has a different age and personality, yet all share the same transformation: increased confidence, independence, and a love for learning.
Ms. Giang humorously shares that investing in her children’s education has become “the most rewarding investment” she has ever made. Today, two of her daughters are “little interpreters,” helping their parents during meetings with international partners and acting as “tour guides” on family trips abroad. The success of her older daughters at Dewey also reinforced her decision to enroll her youngest at Sakura Schools—an early childhood school within the Edufit Education System. She hopes her daughter will follow a consistent educational pathway, experiencing experiential learning from her earliest years. “Little Bánh is only three, yet every evening she excitedly opens her books to ‘study’ alongside her sisters,” Ms. Giang laughed.
Over time, her children’s journeys at Dewey and Sakura have reaffirmed that these are exactly the environments she had hoped for—places where her daughters develop a love for learning, nurture their individual abilities, and gradually grow into the best versions of themselves. “Seeing my children happy and excited to go to school every day, I know I made the right choice,” she shared.
