The ABCs of Stamford American International School

In the school courtyard

So many people have asked me questions about what kind of school Sophia and Cooper go to that I've decided it warrants a post. Besides the curiosity of my friends, I'm hoping that potential Singapore expats might find it useful. I remember spending countless hours scouring the expat forums (which honestly are pretty nasty places, there are some mean people with too much time on their hands) for info on housing and schools. Here's hoping I can alleviate someone's anxiety, even if just a little. And I apologize in advance that my usual attempt at humor, self-deprecating or otherwise, will not be present here.

When we looked at schools, we only focused on two schools - Stamford American International School (SAIS from here on out) and Singapore American School (SAS). SAS was the established American school - one of my best friends from high school even moved here our junior year and went there! At the time we were looking, SAIS was a new school (about three years old) in a temporary campus, with the promise of moving to a larger, $300 million state-of-the-art facility for the start of the 2012 school year. For reasons that really came down to a gut feel and a better location, we chose the "riskier" of the two options, SAIS. There are many, many International schools in this tiny country, and I can speak to nothing but our own experience. So although this will no doubt come off as a commercial for our kids' school, it is just what we know. Nothing more, nothing less.

     

The regular school uniforms and PE uniforms (hats are required outside)   

SAIS currently enrolls to the 9th grade, with an additional grade being added each year for the next three years. It will house approximately 2,500 students when enrollment is at capacity, but is currently still a relatively small school. The 4th grade has four classes, with a total of about 80 students, and 21 countries are represented. How cool is that! Sophia's teacher is Australian, and her closest friend is Swedish/Finnish. Cooper's teacher is Canadian and his closest friend is Japanese. Just awesome. The curriculum is American-based, with elements of the International Baccalaureate included. Although I'm sure the kids would have done just fine in a 100% International school, we just felt more comfortable knowing that they'd not fall behind the traditional American standards.

One side of campus

The biggest difference between school at home (we were in a PA public school) and this school here is the emphasis put on arts and exercise. The kids each have three blocks (40 min each) of PE a week, two blocks of art, one of music, one of drama (the kids love that!) and two recess breaks a day. That might turn off some people who want their kids to be drilled non-stop in the 3 R's, but I find it refreshing. They have a swimming pool, dance studio, full-sized field and even golf swing cages and a simulator. For non-core classes, they also have library once a week (which has an online collection too) and a grade-specific assembly to discuss issues such as empathy towards classmates and present the weekly merit awards. Each year in music class, the entire grade learns a new instrument: Cooper's 2nd grade is learning xylophone and Sophia's 4th grade is learning the ukulele.

The school has swim teams for almost all ages

Sports Field

Student Cafe (they eat outside!)  There is also a separate parent/teacher cafe.

Instead of the inefficient process of "teaching to the test" we find at home (I understand the idea behind it, but it is just not working), the children are given an assessment at the beginning of the year to find out what level they are at in reading and math (science in the upper grades is also included) so they can be taught appropriately. When you bring so many kids in from so many places, it is necessary for subjects be "leveled". I am curious to see how that works in the class, with so many ability levels, but I'm so far feeling good that the teaching will be effective. Not only is math leveled, but for two blocks a week, the kids go to a separate math enrichment class (different teacher) for additional smaller group learning.

Future ukulele player!

This picture is to show how tiny Sophia is!

There are separate art and ceramics classrooms

As far as language goes, all students (starting in preschool) have daily classes in either Spanish or Mandarin Chinese. My children take Mandarin, but I'm totally conflicted on this subject. Of course that seems logical, being that we live in Asia, but it will be much easier for the kids to continue with Spanish back in the US. The schools at home offer Spanish at a young age, but not even the high schools offer Chinese (hopefully by the time they get there!). So I'm not sure how that will pan out, but for now I'm really thankful for the exposure.

Cooper is not allowed to bring his home :-(

Cooper's favorite class is his iPad class! All students from preschool to grade 5 get their own iPads and have one block a week dedicated to learning how to use the iPad to best complement their studies. Middle and high school students get Macbooks. It's not just a silly perk, they really have fully thought out how to integrate the technology into the curriculum. The kids made welcome videos for the parents for back to school night, and parents were even asked to fill out questionnaires on their core values and hopes for their students on an iPad document. They can also read books from the school's e-library and have a ton of apps to complement their lessons. For example, Sophia was studying Gandhi last week and came home very excited. The class watched a short video, had a lengthy class discussion, then were tasked with using the iPad to find out more and answer questions. I learned more about India-Pakistan relations while listening to her than I had ever learned in school my entire life. This was only her second week of school. (Note: my kids love the Science360 app and it's free - download it!) In addition, there is a videoconferencing room that will be used to Skype with guest speakers. I have never been a believer that technology is imperative in the classroom (still think learning can be completely effective without it in the younger grades) but I'm impressed with the way it is being incorporated into the day. All kids learn differently, and I'm betting this multi-faceted approach is going to be pretty effective.

After-school activities are huge - there are both official school athletic teams and an extensive schedule of music, craft, dance, martial arts...tons of classes all taught by the teachers. Both Cooper and Sophia play basketball - Cooper on an intramural team and Sophia on the school team (she will travel to other schools to compete). There is even a robotics class! (which of course Cooper wanted to sign up for but he wasn't old enough). An activity bus takes the kids to a drop off point down the road from my house, and either I will pick them up or they will take a public bus home from there (yes, alone!).

There are so many other things I could highlight but honestly we're only three weeks into the year and the jury is still out on what they actually learn. The infrastructure certainly seems there, so I have high hopes. As with any new school, I'm sure there will be plenty of kinks to work out, but I'm willing to roll the dice. Please feel free to email me (jenniferludt@hotmail.com) if you're deciding on schools and want further info on what I think as the year goes on.

What's most important to me is that the kids are up eager to go to school, and come home happy every day. To my delight, Cooper came home from school on Thursday, got himself a snack, sat down at the dining room table and proclaimed, "I love my life!" It doesn't get any better than that.

For more on SAIS, visit their website.  I have since repatriated (March 2014) to the United States, so am no longer answering questions on SAIS, but I can reiterate that my children had a fantastic experience there.  Best of luck to you!

Want to hear my thoughts on the school a year later (Aug 2013)?  Read my follow-up post!

**It would be irresponsible not to communicate that this school is expensive. Ipads, golf simulators etc. are great, but come at a cost. We are very fortunate that we are not responsible for the tuition, as we could never afford this at home.