Sgoil Shiaboist is situated on the West Side of Lewis and is around twenty miles from Stornoway. It is a bilingual community school, the present modern building having been opened in 1992. The school caters for pupils between 5 and 14 years of age and currently has a roll of 86 pupils. There are seven permanent teachers and a large number of visiting staff. The primary department has a Gaelic Medium unit and pupils can also opt for Gaelic Medium teaching in selected subjects in the secondary. As well as its own primary department, the school has three associated primary schools, Barvas, Bragar and Carloway which transfer pupils to the secondary department after P7.
The school lies on West Side "tourist route" with its famous visitor attractions such as the Callanish Stones, Carloway Broch, Garenin Blackhouse Village, Shawbost Norse Mill and the Sgoil Shiaboist Museum which was set up thirty years ago.