Ben Lippen School

A warm school that deeply touched us. Due to age restrictions, the child needed to travel as an unaccompanied minor, but there were no direct flights from our country to the school. Teacher Sark learned about our difficulty and, without hesitation, sent his eldest daughter to take a 3-hour flight to the airport we could fly directly to, to pick up the child. If it weren't for Teacher Sark's help, perhaps the child wouldn't have been able to make the trip. Our dorm supervisor is also very nice; during Chinese New Year, they helped the children celebrate the festival, and the children even said it felt more festive than at home. Sometimes the dorm supervisor would also treat everyone to drinks and desserts. When the child first arrived at school, the teachers and classmates were very enthusiastic and proactively chatted with the child. When classmates saw the child eating lunch alone, they would warmly invite the child to eat with them. Classmates would also proactively invite the child to stay at their home during spring break. Upon learning the child wanted a haircut, they would invite the child to their home to have their mother help cut their hair. The touching incidents this time are countless. Grateful to have encountered Banli Peng School, and grateful to have met everyone.

The Lee Peng School is located in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, within the campus of Columbia International University (CIU). It shares the university's teaching facilities and resources and is affiliated with Columbia International University. This school has a Protestant evangelical Christian background, offering rigorous academic programs and Christian beliefs, focusing on developing students' academic abilities, extracurricular experiences, leadership skills, and overall holistic development.

School Features:

1) The school offers a rich curriculum, including AP courses, honors courses, dual enrollment college credit courses, and more, providing opportunities for students seeking academic challenges. Additionally, the school is an SAT test center and offers SAT preparation courses.

2) Care for international students: The school arranges ESL courses at different levels for international students to help them better transition and adapt to the American curriculum system. Furthermore, when dormitories close for Thanksgiving, the school can assist in arranging local host families for international students during the holiday.

3) Special Programs: The school's special programs include innovation and engineering, introductory robotics, advanced robotics, computer networking and programming, culinary arts, pre-engineering, mechanical engineering, computer information and science, web design, business management, financial planning, visual arts, and performing arts, among others.

4) Abundant university resources in the surrounding area: In addition to being within the Columbia International University campus, nearby universities include the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, Furman University, Benedict College, and the College of Charleston.

5) The school awards students with an honorary degree certificate.

Ben Li Peng High School left a very good impression on me! I went on June 1, 2018, to attend my son's high school graduation ceremony! Teacher Stephen Sark personally picked me up at the airport, treated me to McDonald's, and arranged a convenient express hotel for me for $78 a day. My son accompanied me on a tour of the entire campus, including classrooms, the gymnasium, the cafeteria, and sports fields. Several dormitory buildings (all two-story) surrounded a lake, with a pine forest further out. The environment was beautiful, more like a high-end villa complex. The dorm supervisors for building 3A were a Japanese-American couple, very responsible, caring for the international students as if they were their own children. At 4:30 AM, they drove us to the airport, and when we parted, the hostess hugged several children, crying together! During my four-day stay, I visited a shopping center in Columbia City, which had a wide variety of goods, restaurants, and snacks. On the second evening, several teachers prepared a family party for the graduates, and I was invited. The teachers and international students got along very well, and the whole party atmosphere was relaxed and lively. The most memorable part was the graduation ceremony held in the evening. Graduates, uniformly dressed in green graduation gowns, entered two by two, then lined up on stage. School leaders and parents were seated in the audience. The principal presented a diploma to each graduate. The entire ceremony, accompanied by a band, was both solemn and relaxed! My son was admitted to Texas A&M University's Mechanical Engineering program. The following year, he returned to visit his teachers! The teachers reacted as if they saw their own child return, and that year, my son was the poster image for Ben Li Peng High School!

This is a great high school, where I've met many good friends. Daily life at high school is also very rich and fulfilling, and the teachers are all exceptionally kind to me.

My son is in 12th grade at Benlippen School this year, and we all think it's an excellent school. Both students and teachers are very friendly, and the school has a strong teaching and academic atmosphere. The rewards for students are also generous; this school year, my child received a $5000 scholarship from the school. For us parents, the school's apartment-style living management model is particularly suitable for children who have just moved to the U.S. The full escort for shopping and activities on weekends makes us feel very much at ease. Especially noteworthy is Stephen, the teacher responsible for international students, who speaks excellent Chinese and communicates smoothly, always helping to resolve various difficulties. This time, when our child encountered an emergency returning home, the teacher provided timely assistance. In summary, this is a very good school, and if you are a child who loves life and loves learning, choosing Benlippen will definitely bring you many rewards.

As a parent of a high school international student at Ben Lippen School, I highly commend this school. First, the school is located on the same campus as CIU, a renowned Bible university, offering beautiful scenery. Its strong Christian ethos ensures your child's physical and mental well-being while keeping them safe.
Academically, the school arranges ESL courses at different levels for international students to help them transition smoothly and adapt to the American curriculum. Students can choose credit-bearing courses according to their interests and abilities, and with the help of teachers, purposefully prepare for their upcoming university life. Chinese students are no worse than American students in math, physics, and chemistry, and sometimes even have an edge. However, they are far behind American students in American history, politics, and culture, and we must clearly recognize this. Fortunately, Ben Lippen offers ample freedom in course selection, allowing your child to quickly and confidently keep pace with their journey towards university.
In terms of daily life, whether your child lives on campus or with an American host family, Ben Lippen School provides meticulous care, along with strict disciplinary constraints. All of these contribute to nurturing your child into an honest, respectful, grateful, and responsible member of society. Some seemingly restrictive disciplines are designed to eliminate undesirable habits in your child. These positive guidances are essential for children during their sensitive developmental period (teenager), and I have personally witnessed the actual positive effects these managements have had on my child. I feel very confident entrusting my child to Ben Lippen School.

My two children have been studying at Ben Lippen School (middle school) for nearly three years. Before coming to Ben Lippen, they attended a nearby private school but were not very satisfied. After arriving at Ben Lippen, the children felt the sincere love and help from the teachers. Their English improved rapidly, and they also made significant progress in other subjects. Most importantly, the teachers are all Christians, which has greatly influenced our two children in character development. My daughter joined the school band, her flute skills have improved significantly, and she is currently preparing for the state orchestra evaluation. My son joined the choir and drama club and thoroughly enjoys them. The school offers various themed activities, and students are quite respectful towards our Asian children. On Fridays, my daughter participates in Bible study activities for boarding students, where there's food, fun, and learning.
Over the past two or three years, I had the opportunity to interview some teachers at the school and conduct a series of live broadcasts. I gained a systematic understanding of the school's curriculum design, teaching methods, and school management. I've observed the school's pursuit of academic excellence and character development for students, helping them form good critical thinking skills and cultivate good habits of teamwork.

Ben Li Peng School is a trustworthy school. Students' daily lives are well taken care of by the residential staff. The school's teachers are dedicated and responsible, and extracurricular activities are rich and varied. My child had a happy high school life here. The school atmosphere is excellent, and my child made many like-minded friends with excellent character here. Entrusting our child to this school saved us parents a lot of worry, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the school provided a lot of help to our child. Thank you, school and teachers! For parents, having their child study abroad at Ben Li Peng School is a very reassuring matter.

Enrolling children at Benlipeng School for international study is a great relief for parents! Benlipeng School boasts a beautiful environment and a rich variety of extracurricular activities. In their daily lives, international students are cared for by host families; academically, their teachers are very responsible and caring. International students at Benlipeng School do not feel excluded. We were particularly touched by the meticulous care our children received during the pandemic. In April, as the US pandemic worsened and flights became restricted, we were incredibly anxious back home. However, the school's teachers decided to personally drive them 11 hours to New York Airport, for which we are especially grateful. Our initial choice of Benlipeng School was a wise decision.

A modest and unpretentious school, highly responsible for its boarding students, excels in both classroom education and extracurricular activities. Students gain immense confidence, and my child, after four years of high school, also achieved remarkably good results.

Banlipeng School is a trustworthy school. My child had a happy high school life here. The school atmosphere is excellent, and my child made many like-minded friends with good character here. The teachers are enthusiastic and responsible, not only imparting knowledge but also teaching life principles. Having our child here has saved us parents a lot of worry. Thank you, school and teachers!

Ben Li Peng School is a trustworthy school with a beautiful environment and strong faculty. International students here receive meticulous care and attention! What satisfies me most is the school's approach to managing international students: teachers lead a few international students from different countries to form a big family. The host parents are both teachers and guardians. This combination ensures that the children's studies and daily lives receive comprehensive care. There are abundant activities every week or during holidays to enrich their lives in a foreign land. Everything the school does makes parents, even thousands of miles away, feel close and reassured! Our child had a pleasant learning experience at Ben Li Peng, has now graduated and entered a new phase of life, but will never forget the care from their former host father, mother, and teachers like Steve Sark! Everything here was so wonderful, truly unforgettable for a lifetime...

Benlipeng School is an excellent school. In particular, 10% of its students come from all over the world, with a majority being Chinese students.
The school's learning quality is excellent, and the teachers are outstanding and patient. If students have difficulties with their studies, they can ask teachers for help after class. The most touching incident was in April during the pandemic when Teacher Sark and the dormitory manager personally drove for over ten hours to take the child to New York's JFK Airport. Fearing the child might get infected during the journey, Teacher Sark proactively offered to drive the child to the airport. This allowed the child to return home safely.

Trash, the trash at this school is killing me.

Attention everyone!!! Don't read these comments, they are all fake and paid for by the school. This school is just here to swindle money. Once you pay the tuition, they stop treating you like a human, especially the finance department handled by someone named Susan Carpenter. They will never miss an opportunity to scam more money, they have no public conscience at all.

As a parent whose child attends this school, my overall impression is: it's a loving school that is willing to communicate with parents, listen to feedback, and goes out of its way to help in emergencies. Take the unprecedented year of 2020, for example. Some students in the first batch returning home via charter flights were under 15 years old, making transit in New York impossible. Considering the children's age and safety, school teachers drove these students from Columbia, South Carolina, to New York, waiting until they boarded their flight before leaving – a one-way journey of over 13 hours. To meet various requirements for boarding flights back home, the school facilitated cross-state travel for children to safe facilities for “double negative” tests. The complexity of this process can only be understood by those who went through it.
The school environment is excellent, with wonderfully fresh air, mountains, and lakes. The tranquil setting is very suitable for children to study. My child's experience over the past two years is that the teachers are all very caring. For parents who have their children studying abroad, I believe this is the most important thing: children can feel loved and grow up in an environment of love, even in a foreign land. The dormitories have many rules, such as mobile phones being collected at 10 PM, students with unsatisfactory grades needing to attend evening study sessions, and dorm supervisors checking your homework, etc. But for situations where we, as parents, are beyond reach, we certainly hope our children are managed and have boundaries. Sending children here is ultimately for their education.
Based on two years of communication with the school and discussions with parents of other American high school students, my takeaway is that every school has areas for improvement, but Ben Li Peng's attitude is open, humble, and proactive. Cultural differences will certainly present some obstacles; simply maintain communication. Overall, I recommend this school.

Ben Li Peng School is an excellent school. Notably, 10% of its students come from all over the world, with a majority being Chinese students.
The school's learning quality is outstanding, and the teachers are exceptional and patient. If students encounter difficulties in their studies, they can seek help from teachers after class. Graduates can generally gain admission to universities. The school provides excellent arrangements for the study and life of its international students. Accommodation conditions are very good.

Benli Peng is a very good school. My son completed his high school years here and applied to good universities. The accommodation and study conditions here are both excellent. The environment is beautiful and it's far from the noisy city center.

Banlipeng School is an excellent school, highly recommended to friends in need. The school fully utilizes local resources in the education of international students, helping children improve their independent learning abilities and efficiency, enabling them to find confidence, joy, and a sense of honor in their studies. The campus is located within a university, and the library and gym are open to international students. In terms of daily life, school teachers regularly or irregularly organize various indoor and outdoor activities to enhance learning and cultural exchange and integration between international students and local students, helping children quickly make friends. Each dormitory is equipped with dormitory supervisors and university student volunteers to cater to international students' extracurricular study needs, providing companionship and care in their daily lives. The dormitory supervisors strictly manage the children's dormitories in accordance with the school's management system. As parents, with our children not yet adults and far from home and family, we are very reassured by the strict management of their daily lives. The children have spent four healthy and happy years here. Banlipeng School is trustworthy and highly recommended.

Ben Li Peng is a very good international high school.

My daughter just graduated from Bunyarat, a very good school. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she experienced some depressive symptoms in her last semester. The school's teachers were very concerned about her and helped her adjust assignment submission times as much as possible, ultimately enabling her to graduate smoothly and get through a very difficult period in her life. Many thanks to the teachers of this school!

My child completed their entire high school education at Ben Li Peng School. The campus is very beautiful, the school's teachers are all very responsible, and extracurricular activities are also very rich. The dormitory supervisors are very caring and genuinely concerned about the children, often sending emails to keep you updated on your child's academic and daily life. The four years of high school allowed my child to grow up very well, and I am very grateful to the school's teachers.

I am a 2015 graduate of Ben Lippen. I feel that the teachers at Ben Lippen truly put a lot of effort and care into their students. When I was in high school, I indeed felt that some rules were quite strict, but it was only after graduating from college that I truly understood that all the rules had a purpose. For example, the school would require students to turn off lights and go to bed at 10 PM, to prevent students from staying up late and being tired the next day, and also to help them develop good habits. In college, many of my classmates would stay up all night playing games and the like, which not only affected their studies but also harmed their health. So, the habit of going to bed before 11 PM, which I developed at Ben Lippen, truly brought immense benefits to my academic life. Furthermore, the dorm staff truly cared for the students as if they were their own children. I am truly grateful.

Two younger sisters and one younger brother I know all study at Ben Li Peng, and because of this, I've had a lot of communication with the teachers. The teachers truly love international students. The boarding dormitory teachers are responsible and meticulous. There are indeed many rules, but when a child is sent abroad at such a young age, parents wouldn't feel at ease without many rules! I'd rather have stricter management than not manage the child at all. The school has beautiful scenery and is located on a university campus. As long as the child is willing to reach out, many American university students are willing to be friends with international students. The director of the international department is also very enthusiastic; he's American but speaks fluent Chinese, loves China, and often eats hot pot with Chinese students. The school also has many extracurricular programs for international students, such as International Student Day, math training camps, etc. Excluding personal factors, overall, it's a very good school, highly recommended.

Benlipeng High School is a school very suitable for quiet study in the U.S. and gradually adapting to American culture. After our Geoffrey graduated from there, he successfully applied to his dream university. I believe American high school is an important stage in shaping children's healthy mind and body. The quiet environment and authentic American cultural atmosphere are the merits of Benlipeng. I feel very fortunate that my child spent four safe, healthy, and fulfilling years of high school there.

My child attended high school in Ben Li Peng and has now graduated. The school teachers are all very responsible. We would always receive timely emails from the school regarding any activities. If the child got sick, the dormitory supervisor would promptly take them to see a doctor. The child participated in many school activities, and as parents, we are very reassured by the school's management of boarding students.

My child attends high school at Ben Lippen School. Overall, the school is quite good. Although its location is a bit remote, the environment is beautiful and very safe. The teachers are very friendly and responsible, and the local students are also very kind. Whether living in the school dormitory or with a host family, the teachers and parents are all very kind, and the management is strict and responsible. We are very much at ease!

I attended BLS and have already graduated. Overall, the school is very good, and boarding was also interesting. The parents are all very nice! They also arranged many activities for us on weekends, so we wouldn't be bored during study breaks and could have fun.

My child attends high school at this school. The teachers are all very friendly and responsible, and the local students are also very kind. My child lives in the school dormitory, and we parents are very reassured by the school's management of boarding students.

I've been to Benlippen several times. First of all, the campus environment and hardware facilities are exceptionally good. I also know children who study here, and both parents and students highly approve of it. Because it's on the same campus as a university, high school students have many resources they can share with university students. The teachers and dorm supervisors in the international department are very experienced in managing international students, and they care for every student. Of course, every school has its discipline, and Benlippen is no exception, after all, without rules, there can be no proper order.

I attended this middle school. The teachers are very friendly and responsible, and the local students are also nice.

As a graduate of Ben Lippen, I can understand that some students find the school's boarding program very strict, with many seemingly unreasonable demands, such as confiscating phones at night, cutting off internet access, and the 'green status' punishment. However, there's no denying that the benefits this lifestyle brought me far exceeded my expectations. BLS's strict requirements are actually based on cultivating students to become honest, responsible, and respectful individuals. I believe no parent wishes for their child to go abroad only to develop bad habits and become narrow-minded. BLS effectively prevents the formation of such bad habits through its discipline. Unfortunately, most students fail to understand this, viewing respect for Christianity as the school forcing church attendance, seeing 'green status' as a disciplinary trick to toy with students, and interpreting the confiscation of electronic devices as persecution that deprives them of freedom. As a BLS graduate, I believe that as long as one understands and abides by the school's discipline and learns to respect different cultures, they will not find the school's rules unreasonable or absurd.

I graduated from this school, and I won't even start to describe how disgusted I am with it. Let's talk seriously. First, the school is extremely irresponsible. They control you when they want to, and when they don't, they say it's your fault and has nothing to do with them. The school specifically targets international students. Americans can take leave whenever and however they want, but if you're an international student, you're only allowed to take leave if there's a family emergency or a major incident. Forget about sick leave; as long as you're not vomiting, having diarrhea, or running a high fever, you *must* go to school. The school can mess with you however it pleases, no matter how you explain yourself. I have a friend who was clearly not sick, but the school insisted she was ill. She was forced to eat with teachers every day, wasn't allowed to use school restrooms, and had to be watched by a parent to ensure she was asleep by 10 PM. Her mother explained and even provided a doctor's note, but the school completely ignored it. She couldn't take it anymore and left. Secondly, I don't even want to talk about how terrible the food is, yet they force you to eat it, completely disregarding human rights. They absolutely do not treat American students and international students equally; it's a prison for international students. The most disgusting part is that if you make a mistake, you'll be 'greened' (which implies a disciplinary status or penalty), even for minor things like being late (but if you're an American, it's completely disregarded). All your electronic devices will be confiscated for a period they determine, meaning you can't contact your family or do anything at all. No agent with a conscience would ever recommend this school.

School Type: Co-educational
Location: South Carolina
Founded: 1940
Total Students: 350
Campus Size: 100 acres
Student-Teacher Ratio: 1:11
Grades Offered: 9-12
AP Courses: 13