This school is getting more popular these days, esp with celebs. And traditional "brand name" schools are very hard to get in (as usual) but now they also get extremely expensive.

If your friends' kids don't speak / write Chinese, there may not be that many choices. I know Maryknoll, DGS, DBS offer non-chinese speaking program for kids back in the days when I was growing up. I don't know if they still do. If not, HKIS maybe your only choice.