Singapore American School Annual Report 2015-16

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Ritu Kapoor, SAS Parent

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From the

B ARD CHAIR Singapore American School experienced another phenomenal year in 2015-16. I am very proud of our school as a parent, and as board chair. Aside from celebrating our 60th anniversary, and one of our biggest fundraising years in history, our Strategic Plan 2020 was completed and rolled out, and we had great results with significant learning and student growth in every division. The school introduced a wide variety of new course options that give our students more possibilities than ever, allowing individual students to learn in ways that interest them and explore opportunities that will help differentiate them as they consider their future.

the advancement office, the board has supported school efforts to develop alternative sources of funding through an emphasis on philanthropy.

I have been privileged during my time as board chair to join our superintendent, his team, exceptional teachers, and other members of the SAS Board to help lead this great school and work together to further our vision to be a world leader in education, cultivating exceptional thinkers, prepared for the future.

Today, the board is comprised of 12 members, all of whom are currently SAS parents. It seeks to maintain an important balance of skills, experience, and backgrounds to enrich board conversations and decision-making.

The board’s role is to support the superintendent, help chart the strategic direction of the school, and to ensure its long-term financial health. SAS continues to offer one of the best educational experiences in the world, while carefully stewarding resources and constantly looking to refine programs and practices so that we remain relevant in providing the skills that students truly need for the future.

With the full implementation of the strategic plan over the coming years, our students will have more opportunities to personalize their learning, delivered in an environment of excellence and truly extraordinary care. SAS is on a trajectory to fulfill our mission and vision, yet we know that resources will be required to do this. Along with

The board also focused time throughout the 2015-16 year to revise strategic policies and procedures, ensure that SAS finances are in good order, put a committee in place to audit internal procedures, and review our board practices to identify the governance model that best supports the ambitious aims of our school. This work was important for the board to lay a strong foundation that enables us to continue to focus on generative and strategic work.

There is one change in board membership after the 2015-16 year with Ehab Abou-Oaf joining the board to replace Paul Bernard. Paul stepped down from the board in July after three years of outstanding service. We are very pleased that Paul will continue to contribute his expertise by serving the school in an advisory capacity. We are grateful to Paul for his years of service and we are thrilled to welcome Ehab to our board. Ehab comes to us with five years of board experience from the International School of Beijing. With Paul’s departure, Tina King and Roy Diao will chair the Finance and Facilities Committee and Investment Advisory Committee respectively.

One of our goals as a board is to ensure that we are renewing board leadership and building a bench for the future, and our governance committee has been working diligently to do this. For the 2016-17 academic year, Anita Tan-Langlois will

Our school community today is the result of a long and rich tradition of volunteerism and a shared understanding that giving to our school today helps current students and leaves a legacy for future students. assume the board chair position. Anita joined the board in 2012 and has served as vice chair since 2015. She serves on the Finance and Facilities and Governance committees, and is our representative to the Foundation Board and the Parent-Teacher Association Board. She has provided fantastic perspective and leadership throughout her service, and will no doubt continue to do the same as board chair.

As a member of the board, it is my privilege to be part of a long tradition of parents giving back to SAS through service. Our school community today is the result of a long and rich tradition of volunteerism and a shared understanding that giving to our school today helps current students and leaves a legacy for future students.

Singapore American School is a wonderful school that provides breadth of experience for diverse and enriching learning. In our annual report you will find evidence of this, along with evidence of contributions by our community throughout. I trust you will be as proud of our school as I am after you read it.

Catherine Poyen Zemans

Catherine Poyen Zemans

Anita Tan-Langlois

Paul Bernard

Tamera Fillinger

Tina King

Kevin Meehan

Ilian Mihov

Samba Natarajan

Cynthia Sung

Astrid Tuminez

Arpana Vidyarthi

Laura Entwistle

Chair

vice-chair

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From the

S PERINTENDENT A Tradition of Innovation The 2015-16 school year was an incredible year for Singapore American School. We celebrated the school’s 60th anniversary as Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence. Throughout the decades, SAS and Singapore have both grown in magnitude and vibrancy and have shared a similar journey of progress, modernization, achievement, and change.

We launched the anniversary year with a new permanent museum-grade heritage gallery highlighting our decades of progress and growth, and in April held an alumni reunion on campus. We heard from countless alumni how Singapore American School has for decades been changing students’ lives for the better.

The 2015-16 school year was as eventful as the 60th anniversary. In the span of only 10 months, we launched a new Reggio Emilia-inspired approach in our early learning center, held our first community-wide wellness conference, raised a record breaking S$3.9 million to fund programs over and above our regular curriculum, hosted a Nobel Laureate, a Newbery Medal winner, and a Pulitzer Prize winner, produced world-class productions in the performing arts, had 473 students take part in our Neverland production, brought home 19 medals in IASAS tournaments, broke 10 IASAS records in swimming, launched a faculty doctorate program, installed the only Constellation acoustic system in Southeast Asia, launched a new high school advisory program, saw our first AP Capstone Diploma graduates, and held our second TEDxYouth@SAS student talks.

That’s just a taste of the 2015-16 school year. There is so much more. And while these events and milestones are impressive, more important is the heart of our vision, providing a world-class education and cultivating exceptional thinkers.

Each year when we set out to publish our annual report, it isn’t just to celebrate our accomplishments. Each annual report is our opportunity to assess our progress of realizing our mission and vision. It tells the story of our school and guides our leadership and faculty to determine whether we are truly meeting our goals for student learning.

We focus on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative indicators by which we measure success, as well as on the community that makes SAS what it is. The story of our work goes beyond standardized test scores and grades, and lies in the growth that our students make throughout the school year.

It takes an amazing community to produce the results we see each year. Our faculty is the finest I’ve ever encountered in a school. Beyond their education, training, and experience, they are committed to continuous improvement and are deeply dedicated to knowing our students well and pushing each to reach their potential in an environment of fantastic care. Our faculty members are committed to ensuring that every student is growing, engaged in meaningful learning, and that the learning experience is increasingly personalized according to student interests and needs. Add to the mix our students, who are curious, hardworking, and dedicated to learning deeply, and our families, who are supportive and actively involved in the life of our school, and the conditions at Singapore American School are ideal for deep and lasting learning.

I’m incredibly proud of our results, from our key academic indicators to the new programs and instructional strategies in each division, from our parent speaker series to our extracurricular activities, and from our facilities work to the way that we steward our finances. This annual report reflects what is valued at SAS. As we continue to witness more and more students learning deeply through their personal interests, I believe we will continue to see SAS positively change more and more lives, whether students are here for one year or their entire school experience.

It is my pleasure to offer you our annual report, and I consider it a privilege to serve the SAS community.

Dr. Chip Kimball

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Strategic

P AN Culture of Extraordinary Care Our decisions at SAS are anchored in extraordinary care — in our culture, in the relationships fostered through advisory and mentoring programs, in community building, through service learning, and in service of the health and well-being of our students, faculty, and our community.

The SAS leadership team and faculty spent countless hours in 2015-16 drafting the school’s strategic plan that will take Singapore American School through 2020.

Through the execution of the plan, SAS students will have access to new programs and course options, and the educational experience for our students will become increasingly personalized and relevant.

This plan is the result of hundreds of hours of research and intense discussion by our faculty who consulted experts, considered best practices, visited exemplary programs, and studied the educational research. We can now build upon the outstanding programs at SAS and refine our work as the requirements for our students evolve. Each year we will evaluate our progress on the plan and make adjustments as needed.

Culture of Possibilities A culture of possibilities is where the best of what SAS has always done intersects with the future-oriented work that has taken place over the past several years. As we have been planning for future teaching, programs, and courses, we know that combining excellence, extraordinary care, and possibilities will be at the heart of creating truly extraordinary students who will positively impact the world.

Every opportunity and decision in our plan is viewed through the lens of our three strategic anchors— excellence, extraordinary care, and possibilities. This lens helps us make resource decisions as we build capacity for implementation.

Excellence

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Every student is known and advocated for

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COLLABORATION

Our plan will ensure that we will continue to offer the unparalleled education that we always have, and that we will continue to personalize each student’s learning and offer students more and more avenues through which they can explore, discover, and pursue their interests and passions through their academics.

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ss

Culture of Excellence Singapore American School has long been known for excellence. By traditional academic measures, our students are among the most competitive in the world. Our school will continue to build the core academic foundation necessary in order for students to be admitted to and excel in excellent universities worldwide.

Within a culture of possibilities, personalized learning will provide students the opportunity to pursue interests and passions, and ultimately develop purpose, which in turn inspires students to work harder, become more focused, learn more, and have more fun doing it. We believe that the best learning environments are those where students are challenged to think, and where learning aligns with their strengths and interests.

Every

SAS Develops Leaders, Cultivates Exceptional Thinkers, And Ensures Students Are Prepared for the future

Focus and Our Five Priorities To ensure that we continue to fulfill our mission and vision, we knew that we needed to focus on our top priorities, saying “no� to interesting but distracting initiatives. As part of our strategic plan, we identified five core priorities that will keep us focused over the next three to four years. These priorities are professional learning communities, standards-based learning, high impact instructional strategies, pastoral care, and systems supporting learning.

Our priorities are built upon a foundational belief system that every student can and will learn at high levels, every student will be known and advocated for, and every student will be able to personalize their learning.

The depth of our plan is ambitious and represents the best thinking globally on how to prepare students for the future, but we have the right leadership team in place and the right faculty to provide deep and meaningful learning for every student, in every classroom, every day.

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Strategic

Pr grams Athletics and Activities At the end of the 2014-15 school year, SAS took over the operations of most Singapore American Community Action Council (SACAC) extracurricular programs so that we had more oversight with scheduling, access, facilities, costs, equity, and in some cases quality. Throughout the last year, we began looking to streamline all SAS extracurricular programs to best serve all SAS families.

One of our boldest recommendations was a new athlete development model. SAS will adopt the Eagle Development Model as the basis for the development of all SAS student athletes. Based on the internationally recognized Long Term Athlete Development Model, this model identifies age appropriate variations and expectations for children in regards to their participation in athletics, and will include a skills development/no-cut policy for preschool through fifth grade activities.

SAS will adopt “eagle pathways” as a way of prioritizing SAS athletics and activities. The Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools (IASAS) athletics and activities

currently offered in high school will guide what is an SAS eagle pathway sport or activity throughout the other divisions.

Our goal is that eagle pathway activities will be offered preschool to grade 12 when age appropriate and possible.

At all divisional levels, eagle pathway athletics and activities will be prioritized for space and time slots on campus, and provided at limited or no additional cost to families. All noneagle pathway athletics, activities, and holiday co-curricular camps will be managed out of the community sports and activities office.

Our seasons are now more closely aligned, our facilities are prioritized in terms of activities that lead to our eagle pathway and varsity-level activities in the high school, and we hired a new aquatics director. As we continue to transition, we recognize that there will be additional changes and adjustments as we learn about what works best for the SAS community and what doesn’t.

Summer Semester

Total number of students

350 28 167

We completed our second year of Summer Semester with 100 more students than our first year. We extended, diversified, and accelerated learning from the academic school year and allowed students to explore new learning paths not available through existing course offerings. Courses stimulated deep intellectual exploration accompanied by authentic projects developed by students in their areas of passion and interest.

Partners We partnered with universities and professional organizations to offer students unparalleled learning opportunities.

Total number of unique classes

Combined age of all early learning center students

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Business ideas proposed

Hours spent studying geometry

6

Hours of Mandarin instruction

4,500

200

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Top three goals accomplished:

1.

Integrated

echnology

We capped off 2015-16 with the release of our SAS Digital Learning Plan. The plan is the result of an independent audit conducted with the Metiri Group to review the success of our previous digital learning plan and uncover how we can align our digital work with the SAS 2020 strategic plan. Over 500 students, 276 parents, 85 teachers, 16 administrators, 5 IT coordinators, and 10 educational technology team members participated in the audit.

2.

Create a new digital learning landscape to provide 1:1 for students and teachers in all divisions

3.

Build a culture of digital citizenship in our community

SAS’s focus moves beyond infrastructure and focuses instead on how to leverage technology to support deep, personalized learning at all ages as well as working to help students become more thoughtful digital citizens.

Three main principles to focus on:

1.

2.

3.

Two years ago, after one of our fourth grade students began exploring virtual reality games, I knew we had to connect with Manuel Clement, a virtual reality designer at Google.

After meeting at a Google Apps for Education Summit, we coordinated a Google Hangout and got Mr. Clement together with Ms. Koehler-Smith’s class. The students were able to learn everything about coding, virtual reality, and working at Google.

Tara Linney

Educational Technology Coach

Support teachers with professional learning opportunities focused on meaningful integration of technology to support learning

Contribute to the development of our desired student learning outcomes through increased training in a wide breadth of digital tools Increase self-directed, inquiry-based personalized learning through programs such as Loft creation station classes in the elementary school, Tri Time classes in the middle school, and the Catalyst courses in the high school Create a digital culture and learning environment that seamlessly integrates the oncampus environment and digital learning platform that includes digital portfolios, a learning management system, and communication systems

1,550

students experienced virtual reality through the Google Expeditions beta program

10 +10 Apple Distinguished Educators and Google Certified Teachers at SAS

2,361

2,781

student and teacher laptops

student and teacher iPads

1,400+

elementary students created iTime projects—individual, independent, and inquirybased creation projects directed by teachers and supported by our educational technology coaches

4,000

Google Apps for Education Accounts to support innovation, collaboration, communication, productivity, and creativity

2,000+ student blogs

584 student and teacher desktop computers

66

elementary classes used the library’s Loft creation stations

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AN EXEMPLARY

AMERICAN EDUCATION

I remember when I began first informing my colleagues in Kuwait that I had accepted a job teaching sixth grade at Singapore American School. “The Singapore American School?” they would ask. Every time I told someone, I would be bombarded with a list of the many reasons SAS was the best school. From day one, SAS surpassed my expectations. The community welcomed me with a warmth and compassion that quickly turned the school into a home. My colleagues are so inspiring and knowledgeable that our meetings are actually mini professional development sessions. Best of all, our students and their families are so engaged and fun that teaching often doesn’t feel like just a job. With year one under my belt, I understand first-hand what people mean when they say the Singapore American School. I feel deeply grateful to be here and incredibly excited for the journey ahead!

Narin Ramani, Grade Six Teacher

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C rriculum Overview

Singapore American School provides a standards-based curriculum, aligned to the most current recommendations of professional associations in the United States and collaboratively developed with faculty to ensure rigor.

This year, we worked with science education consultant Paul Andersen to implement Next Generation Science Standards across the elementary, middle, and high school divisions. We also conducted an audit of our social studies curriculum which led to the adoption of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) social studies standards framework to be implemented in 2016-17.

The highlight of 2015-16 was the result of our focus on improving the work of our teachers’ professional learning communities (PLCs). Elementary, middle, and high school PLCs developed SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based) goals at the beginning of the year and presented their results at the end of the school year. The focus on achieving these personalized learning goals resulted in tremendous student growth and stronger PLCs among our faculty. This work will continue in 2016-17 in the elementary school and will later expand into the middle school and high school.

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2 I could not have been more pleased with the preschool experience my child received this year.

The facilities are beautiful, and the faculty and staff were engaged and excited. They helped my son feel comfortable in his new surroundings and routine on his own time. He is now a confident and inquisitive child entering pre-kindergarten. I also appreciated the education they gave me on the Reggio Emilia-inspired approach over coffee mornings and discussions. They were extremely informative, and I got to know the teachers and administrators on a first-name basis, which was wonderful. Knowing the whys of that approach to education was a real gift.

Mary Kocis SAS Parent

E EMENTARY School Highlights 1

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SMART Goals

Social and Emotional Learning

The LOFT

60 Totem Poles for 60 Years of History

Lunch Bunch

Grade level teams constructed a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based) goal centered on reading, writing, or math. Each team identified essential learning standards and 100 percent of our teams were successful in raising achievement levels.

Counselors researched and recommended a social and emotional learning program that was approved and will be implemented in pilot classes in 2016-17. The research found that students who feel known and cared about experience higher academic achievement.

Technology and instructional coaches provided an additional learning space housed in the elementary school library called the Loft, with iTime and maker activities for students. The Loft offers just-intime, everyday, voluntary, and inhouse support for both professionals and students.

Our elementary art team worked with over 1,600 student artists to create 60 ceramic and wooden totem poles to celebrate Singapore American School’s 60th anniversary.

The student totem poles can be found throughout the elementary school division and high school eco garden.

Students were so enthusiastic about making, creating, and discovery in the Lunch Bunch room that they petitioned the elementary administration for more time.

The hours were expanded to allow further creative and learning opportunities, thanks to generous funding from the SAS Foundation.

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Reggio Emilia Rollout

Response to Intervention

Curriculum Updates

Smooth Transition

The preschool team rolled out our new Reggio Emilia-inspired approach to learning for our youngest students in our newly renovated open learning concept space.

Students explored, discovered, and made connections as the space offered a new depth to the learning environment.

We realigned the learning support team across the elementary school with a focus around the Response to Intervention model. We aligned the learning support practices from kindergarten through grade five to ensure that children progress through elementary school with continuous support.

Elementary faculty and administrators coordinated with the Office of Learning to implement several major curriculum updates: writing learning progressions, Next Generation Science Standards, and the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) social studies standards framework.

Professional Learning Communities We broadened the professional learning network between the grade levels to improve kindergarten to grade eight reading levels and improve the learning of our students as well as the teaching conducted by our faculty.

We aligned programs and practices to provide a seamless program from preschool to grade five as well as a smooth transition into grade six. The elementary administrative PLC divided responsibilities to provide more presence that ensures high levels of collaboration with our teachers as well as strong relationships with our students.

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Nothing can prepare you for the transition into the performing arts program at SAS, and that is certainly not a bad thing. Walking into the auditorium on the first day, you are hit with this enormous wave of love, support, and compassion from everyone present. We have all bonded and connected as a family and it’s the most comforting thing.

Looking back, as a baseball player turned theater kid, I believe joining performing arts may have been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made at SAS.

Connor M.

Grade Eight

Midd e

School Highlights 1 Extraordinary Extracurricular Participation During any given season, more than 600 students were involved in extracurricular activities in one way or another.

We introduced “backyard games” in the last month of the school year where numerous activities were offered daily by teachers.

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3

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Student Stewardship

Research and Development Task Force

Classroom Without Walls

Music Concerts, Dance Shows, and Drama Productions

Peer Counsel organized two successful and completely student-run dances. Students planned all of the assemblies, the Cancer Awareness Run, aspects of new student orientation, spirit weeks, the PeerPoint quiet room in the library, the talent show, and grade five orientation.

Each middle school faculty member and administrator helped develop action plans to support the research and development recommendations.

Tri Time was trialed in grade seven. Homebase was refined and aligned with elementary and high school social and emotional programs.

All 948 students and their teachers enjoyed teambuilding with exciting trips in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Students reflected on something that challenged them, whether it was being away from home, swimming in the ocean, or jumping off a high platform into the water.

Our performing arts groups shined with numerous concerts, dance shows, and drama events.

Students of all experience levels had opportunities to be involved and showcase their learning.

Highlights included Legally Blonde JR., Neverland, String Wars, and the Improv Slam.

6

7

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Academic Visitors-InResidence

Library Makerspace

Service Learning Opportunities

Our students learned from Newbery Medal award winners, a former Navy SEAL, music conductors, internationally acclaimed journalists, and more. These professionals held workshops and personally interacted with students to help them develop their skills and talents.

Students had opportunities to help make a bamboo bicycle, craft intricate paper models, build dollhouses and furniture, compete with and program Spheros, make music videos, build massive block towers, create stringed instruments from cookie tins, and more through enhanced makerspaces.

In grade six, students completed a conservationbased water project to increase drought awareness.

In grade seven, students raised funds through Change for Change, donating to local and regional causes. Grade eight students completed personalized service projects of their choice.

9 Exploration Three hundred and twenty students experienced a digital media class, while 355 students were able to “eat their tests� in our cooking and nutrition classes.

One-third of our students enrolled in art, 58 percent took Chinese, 31 percent took French or Spanish, 416 took part in music performance classes, almost 200 enrolled in dance, and 286 took drama as an elective.

10 Administration Transition An entirely new middle school administrative team completed nearly 300 classroom observations, attended many student events, and sought regular feedback from faculty, parents, and students.

This helped lead to growth in 17 indicators on the annual faculty and staff climate survey.

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2 This past year was filled with lots of exciting and busy events as I met great students and teachers, participated in several service clubs, and was involved in fun classroom projects. One thing that made me feel accomplished and proud was my Catalyst project. I chose to code a quiz app with Java. I learned so much in the process, broadened my understanding of Java outside my AP Computer Science classroom, and tested my app that I planned, coded, and designed independently. Not only was I able to reach out and meet new people in the app building community, but I also dabbled in something I thought I could never do—and was successful!

H GH

Sandy BalA

Grade 11

School Highlights 1

2

3

4

5

Quest

College Counseling Research and Development

Advisory

New Schedule

A new advisory program was fully implemented for every student this year with Welcome Back Day events kicking off each semester to help students feel supported socially, emotionally, and academically.

Advisory will be further developed with the addition of a house system in 2016-17.

We implemented a new high school schedule this year to create additional time for teachers to build meaningful relationships with their students in advisory and thoughtfully coordinate learning objectives with their PLCs.

StandardsBased Grading

Our Quest team completed program development for the 201617 launch and received strong support from our community.

Twenty-one students enrolled in the inaugural year will pursue their passions and apply their knowledge and skills in an immersive all-day, full-year projectbased setting.

With the help of former Tufts University admissions consultant Dan Grayson, our high school counseling team completed the second year of our counseling program renewal, focused on improving the systems surrounding the college application process for our students.

We further implemented standards-based grading to include reporting of both learning behaviors and standards to our families and students. This system enables teachers to accurately assess genuine learning and develop personalized learning plans for their students.

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7

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Advanced Topic

Advanced Placement Research

Advanced Placement:

Victorious Eagles

Global Online Academy

We ​registered 1,764 AP exams ​ in the spring of 2016. That is up from 1,350 exams in 2011 (pre-PLC) with an actual increase in average test score from 92.7% to 96.3% of students scoring a three or higher.

Nineteen SAS teams came out victorious this year and earned medals at IASAS tournaments. Girls’ and boys’ basketball teams both clinched gold and our lady eagles dominated the competition as they almost doubled the score of the second-place team. The highlight of the year came as our girls’ swimming relay team beat the IASAS record by almost 10 seconds!

Students completed over 30 credit hours worth of online courses in this prestigious program to earn SAS credit.

Courses allowed students to connect with professionals in fields such as architecture, neuropsychology, writing, medical problem solving, and computer programming.

Five advanced topic courses were developed and set to launch in 201617. These collegevetted courses include writing seminar, Chinese language history, performing arts, kinesiology, and tropical ecology.

The AP Research course was fully implemented this year and the results were astounding.

Students produced 5,000 word research papers and defended their thesis in front of a review board of teachers. One SAS student paper was selected as the global exemplar for the College Board.

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Measures of Advanced Academic Progress Placement Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments in reading, math, and language use are administered to students in grades three through nine. MAP assessments are criterion-referenced, meaning they generate a score based on a level of knowledge and skill, not dependent on grade level. Our average scores in each grade level and subject are higher than the average scores of the US and East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) comparison groups.

SAS is in the 94th or higher percentile of all schools that participate in MAP testing in these subjects

Advanced Placement (AP) exams are standardized, criterion-referenced summative assessments. AP scores range from one to five, with scores of three or higher considered passing and eligible for waiving the equivalent college course at most US universities.

SAS is in the 96th percentile of schools worldwide, including the United States, in the percentage of students earning a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam Number of exams completed 2012

NWEA

Language Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8

Reading Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9

Math Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9

200 207 212 215 218 219 199 206 212 216 218 220 222 203 214 221 225 229 231 233

EARCOS

206 213 219 223 227 230 204 212 219 223 227 231 232 211 222 234 237 246 251 257

SAS

210 217 224 228 232 235 209 217 225 229 234 237 238 217 225 240 238 249 256 258

1,345

2013

2014

2015

2016

2014

2015

2016

2014

2015

2016

2013

2014

2015

2016

2013

2014

2015

2016

2013

2014

2015

2016

1,333

1,422

1,607

1,764

Number of students taking exams 2012

550

2013

539

593

638

629

Global exams receiving a 3, 4, or 5 2012

62%

2013

61%

61%

61%

58%

SAS exams receiving a 3,4, or 5 2012

96%

97%

97%

96%

96%

SAS exams with a 4 2012

32%

30%

31%

32%

29%

SAS exams with a 5 2012

45%

48%

47%

41%

46%

the res lts

Assessing

Scholastic Assessment Test

American College Testing

The SAT was administered to 229 members of the Class of 2016. All scores, including those from non-native English speakers, are included.

The ACT was taken by 100 members of the Class of 2016. Many students completed both the ACT and the SAT. Even if a student did significantly better on one exam and only submitted a score for one test in the college admission process, both are included in the averages.

Class of 2016 Middle 50%

1740 to 2110

SAS Range

36

Possible score Global

SAS

33 CRITICAL READING

580 -710

AVERAGE SAT SCOREs Class of 2015

to

631 495

MAth

25

32 32 to

to

30 to

26 24

31 to

25 25

580 - 730

AVERAGE SAT SCOREs Class of 2015 484

Writing

570 - 720

AVERAGE SAT SCOREs Class of 2015 649 511

English Math Reading Science Reasoning Composite

638

ACT Score

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College

Admissi ns Ninety one percent of 2016 SAS graduates will pursue higher education upon graduation, seven percent will enter Singapore’s National Service, and the remainder will take a gap year or enter the workforce before college. SAS reports university matriculation for the last four graduating classes to account for the many students who are applying to universities using a different admission cycle, and to include students completing National Service who will begin university later.

US Public Universities Classes of 2013-16

5 or more graduates attending University of California, Los Angeles

16

University of California, San Diego

7

University of Colorado at Boulder

14

Colorado State University

14

Georgia Institute of Technology

6

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

12

University of Michigan

5

University of Oregon

8

Pennsylvania State University (all campuses)

14

Purdue University

15

Texas A&M University

10

University of Washington

10

Highly Selective US Universities Classes of 2013-16

Babson College Boston College Brown University Bucknell University University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles Carnegie Mellon University University of Chicago Claremont McKenna College Colgate University Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University

Emory University Georgetown University

Hamilton College - New York Harvard University Harvey Mudd College Johns Hopkins University Massachusetts Institute of Technology New York University Northeastern University Northwestern University University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania Princeton University Rice University University of Southern California Stanford University Swarthmore College Tufts University

United States Coast Guard Academy University of Virginia Washington University in St. Louis Wellesley College Williams College Yale University

2 8 5 3 9 16 15 8 7 3 8 14 2 6 6 5 3 5 3 4 1 39 29 17 4 10 2 9 15 2 1 5 1 4 12 2 1 2

Finding an institution with a track record of excellence that is still willing to try new things, big new things, is rare in education. Yet, this spirit of innovation, thoughtful iteration, and excellence is endemic at SAS. That culture is profoundly expressed in the counseling office, where conversations about how to support student growth academically, socially, and developmentally are constantly

Outside of the US

taking place, and where the fruits

Classes of 2013-16

University of British Columbia University of Cambridge University of Edinburgh University of Hong Kong Imperial College London King’s College London Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology University College London McGill University University of Melbourne Nanyang Technological University National University of Singapore Seoul National University University of Sydney University of Toronto University of Oxford

of those conversations are actually 30 3 2 1 1 5

put into action. It’s remarkable to

1 5 13 1 2 1 2 3 7 1

information managed represents

have an office that must manage a small avalanche of applications and still manage to put students first, remembering that each piece of a human being with hopes and aspirations. I am honestly inspired by the level of affection and care that goes on within the counseling office.

Daniel Grayson

Principal Consulant Former Associate Director of Admissions Tufts University

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S pport

Services

At Singapore American School, we subscribe to a growth mindset. We believe every student can grow and develop skills in any subject that they are willing to thoughtfully pursue. This mindset encourages a love for learning and teaches students to focus on progress, not just mastery.

In every division, we ask ourselves two questions to ensure we are offering our students exactly what they need to progress: What do we do when a student is not at the level of learning where they need to be?

What do we do when a student already has command of the skills and competencies they are expected to understand?

Support Services Working Groups Teachers from across all three divisions met four times over the course of the spring semester to align our practices and services across divisions.

Teachers worked in teams that focused on assessment, intervention, and individualized education services program processes and procedures. We aligned both practices and predictable experiences for families to ensure consistency as they work with faculty in any division.

Response to Intervention Professional Learning A team of 14 elementary teachers and administrators attended a Response to Intervention at Work conference to deepen their understanding of how we can continue to embrace the collective responsibility for ensuring that all students learn at high levels.

Our daughter has a learning disability that impacts her ability to read and internalize content. For three years, she has worked with learning support teachers here at SAS and we have seen her move from being two reading levels below grade to catching up and being right on track with her peers.

The learning support program at SAS provides each student the tools and support they need to learn at high levels, and more importantly, to internalize the principles of a growth mindset.

Nicole Rodriguez SAS Parent

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Speak r Series@SAS

Funded by the SAS Foundation, SpeakerSeries@ SAS hosts experts who address important and timely topics on parenting, child development, and family life.

In 2015-16, we welcomed experts from around the world who presented research on improving cognitive functioning, rules for better brain performance, ideas for managing stress, creating appropriate boundaries with children, and more.

New York Times bestselling author Dr. John Medina spent a week with parents and faculty presenting concepts taken from his book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. Dr. Medina is a developmental molecular biologist and an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He challenged listeners to reconsider many current habits and best practices found at home and in school. He recommended 26-minute naps, more exercise spread throughout the day, and flexible scheduling for morning larks and night owls.

In another event, local developmental and behavioral pediatrician Dr. Roby Marcou spoke candidly to parents about the physical and neurological impact of stress. She called for

accountability among parents, faculty, and students, noting that stress can stem from each of these groups. Dr. Marcou detailed the biology of stress and highlighted the need for mechanisms to counteract the negative effects of stress.

Dr. Marcou later teamed with Dr. Rosemary McKinnon to host a panel for parents addressing student topics such as anxiety, depression, addictions, too much screen time, narcissistic behaviors, and oppositionality. The panelists shared how to successfully guide children across the divide between childhood and adulthood— and how to maintain strong relationships and a good perspective during the process.

Devorah Heitner, Ph.D., author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in their Digital World, offered suggestions about key media issues to discuss with children. Dr. Heitner presented techniques to create a smart tech culture in families where parents lead by example and digital natives can mentor them on some of the latest developments. She discussed issues such as managing distractions, choosing quality apps, moderating gaming, and navigating friendships in an age of texting and social media.

SpeakerSeries@SAS brings local and international experts to our SAS doorstep to stimulate insightful and provocative conversations about an array of topics.

Many of these speaking engagements are on issues affecting children, how to improve their educational experiences, and how we can best support our future generations. The series reaches beyond the phenomenal experts we have at SAS and gives participants the unique opportunity to be one of the few people worldwide who have the opportunity to learn from these distinguished speakers in person! I was ecstatic when I heard SAS was bringing in international bestselling author and developmental molecular biologist, Dr. John Medina. I went to his talks on ‘Brain Rules: Exercise’ and ‘Brain Rules: Sleep’ and thoroughly enjoyed conversations with colleagues on how the brain benefits immensely from exercise and how we can get our students moving more throughout the learning day.

Furthermore, his lecture has given me even more research-backed evidence that I can connect with some of the big understandings I teach my students in our PE lessons. I love it!

Anne Wenstrom

Elementary PE Teacher

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Academic

Visitorsi -Residence Kwame Alexander

Cathryn Berger Kaye

New York Times bestselling author 2015 Newbery Medal winner for The Crossover

Author of books on service learning and environmental conservation

Poet, novelist, cool dude—these are some of the ways that visiting author Mr. Kwame Alexander describes himself. As part of SAS’s author-in-residence program, Mr. Alexander spent three weeks offering inspiring stories and hosting in-class writing workshops while sharing his love of poetry with middle and high school audiences in large groups. Mr. Alexander shared his mentality toward his work—say yes to opportunities that come your way, “dodge and weave” if you face writer’s block, write from what you know and what you feel, and let yourself be open to being inspired.

Cathryn Berger Kaye served as an environmentalist-inresidence for two weeks at SAS. Working with groups of teachers and students in the elementary, middle, and high school division, she shared her service learning framework, analyzed current service initiatives, and facilitated interdisciplinary discussions. By drawing on their own skills and interests, students actively researched issues, defined community needs, and acted on them. Through her work, teachers and students gained a clear vision of how service learning is a process to experience, not a product or project to complete.

Tad Hills

Steve Sheinkin

New York Times bestselling author Time Magazine Best Children’s Book of the Year

New York Times bestselling author YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Winner, 2016 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction

Tad Hills spent six days immersed in the early learning center with our youngest learners. His visit inspired students to see themselves as authors, illustrators, and book creators. Working alongside students in their familiar setting, he encouraged them to create, paint, draw, and make marks on the page. This residency visit style fundamentally supports the Reggio Emilia-inspired constructivist approach.

Steve Sheinkin shared his journey into his writing process with our middle school students, guiding grade seven students through their Tri Time research process by sharing techniques that he uses when creating award-winning books. He also highlighted his recent bestseller, Most Dangerous, at the inaugural #SASReads event, an afternoon session designed to bring students, teachers, and parents together around a common text.

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Professor Robin Hemley

Sean Michael Thomas

​ esley Loh and W Tom White

The Director of the Writing Program and Professor of Humanities, Yale-NUS College and a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Dr. Hemley workshopped with high school English students constructing world news.

Mr. Thomas worked with our entire eighth grade to explore the process of researching, investigating, and reporting on a topic during their journalism unit.

Mr. Loh and Mr. White conducted digital photography courses with high school student photographers.

Fiction and non-fiction writer

Dr. Cyril Wong

Professional investigative journalist

Zach Benson

Dancer and choreographer

Poet and fiction writer A 2016 Singapore Book Publisher Association Book Awards Finalist and a 2006 and 2016 Singapore Literature Prize co-winner, Dr. Wong spoke to students during the American Writers Festival.

Photographers

Tamae Iwasaki

Chris Barton

Senior Education and Outreach Officer for the Tyler Print Institute, Ms. Iwasaki provided workshops for high school art foundations and printmaking courses, helping students gain a foundational understanding of the print process.

A New York Times bestselling author and Texas Bluebonnet Master List book author, Mr. Barton presented his revision process to kindergarten and grade one students and conducted writing workshops in grade two to five classrooms. Students learned effective strategies for enlivening and revising their writing.

Artist SAS commissioned Mr. Matschoss to write this year’s IASAS play, The Space Between Raindrops. The selfreferential play explored the ways in which teenagers play roles in life and on stage. The SAS student ensemble was able to work closely with Mr. Matschoss in developing and adapting his script as he was in Singapore at several points in the process.

Nugene Chiang and Joseph Goh

So You Think You Can Dance finalist and guest dancer and choreographer Mr. Benson led our middle and high school dancers through an audition workshop. He helped them with strategies for success that included improvisational techniques, performance aspects, and what to expect during an audition.

Joachim Matschoss Playwright and artistic director for BackYardTheatreEnsemble

Professional photographers, Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film

As Canon Imaging Academy Instructors, Mr. Chiang and Mr. Goh taught workshops to high school photography students on food photography and macro photography. The trainers provided a range of various essential shooting techniques and tips to capture great shots.

Author

Carin Berger

Naomi Kiara Valodia

Greg Ruhe

New York Times bestselling illustrator Ms. Berger spent 12 days working exclusively in elementary art classrooms delivering mini-lessons to enhance techniques for creating collages. Her lessons successfully targeted the curriculum learning objectives.

Ms. Berger also provided an after school art workshop for parents and teachers.

Freelance makeup artist and professional dancer Ms. Valodia spent a week with our middle school and high school dance classes, focusing on street jazz and a different style of hip hop. The classes increased the interest level of the students, especially male dancers.

Mr. Ruhe introduced middle school students to the magic of puppetry.

Artist

James Harding Musician

Orff Schulwerk Music Specialist at the San Francisco School, Mr. Harding incorporated movement, singing, familiar nursery rhymes, storytelling, and opportunities for elementary students to play many instruments. He was an expert in adjusting his lesson based on students’ responses, taking advantage of every teaching moment to encourage students to improvise and create their own musical ideas.

He shared many ways in which technology can be used in the music classroom, including stop-motion videos and soundtracks for silent films.

Dancer

Muhammad Alif Bin Rais

Dancer

The dancers-in-residence program focused on developing the hip-hop dance style. Singapore artist Mr. Alif worked with our middle school and high school dancers for both the Neverland production and our end-ofyear dance performance.

Neil Farrelly

Nose2Nose Theater Director Mr. Farrelly performed a storytelling improvisation show with 20 middle school drama students.

Founder of Puppet Pizzazz

Tim Sullivan

Asia Correspondent for the Associated Press Mr. Sullivan taught high school journalism and publishing students about how he crafted his writing while working in West Africa and East Asia, offering students a unique glimpse into a professional journalist’s work and the process involved in constructing world news.

38

2

Extracurricu ar Activities

High School Middle School Elementary

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SAS students won their third consecutive International Schools Taekwondo Championship.

14

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classes offered after school

Singapore American School was represented by six middle school teams at the 42nd annual National History Day contest at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. The Apollo-Soyuz Mission: Launching a Unified Exchange project earned first place in the junior group exhibit.

Our online student news website The Eye won the prestigious National Scholastic Press Association Online Pacemaker Award.

Kinaree A. won her third consecutive Brazilian Jiu Jitsu championship in Abu Dhabi.

The National Integration Council funded high school student Gabriella Zhao’s event “Le Tour De Singapore” that garnered national attention and was filmed by Mediacorp.

900+

students registered for after-school activities

15+

activities offered during lunch

100

elementary afterschool activities offered

17

competitive sports teams offered

20+ 35+ 20+

after school clubs

tryout sport teams

intramural activities

7 22 100+ 50+ 473

honor societies

IASAS sport competitions

after-school clubs and activities

service clubs

students in the Neverland dance production

L A N O I T A N R E T N I AN IVE

n Sectio

3

T C E P S R E P

r

meste

im Se y Inter

trip. service

d

I gaine

chool

the s nts at

de m co for the stu c ish, h o t r i o w ng n Engl i i to M t s c r d a e e r l b e e v um y int ar I tra . t and n ation b e c b u a d over This ye d h n e p a l n r a o e e ov th tive a word g them erspec t n p i a h e w c p rds e a e an the wo hile te m to r e e W h z i . t r t h o d g em aske we tau n, ed to m en we i r h t w where d ucatio n n i d a a e l , ’ p y l s r s com the riou uldn’t ing se ct on o o h e w c fl a y e r e e less t th were live in de me a e t a w m h t t y l a h ot on ildren ook w ity ell. Ch s trip n i w They t h s T a . portun p on em i o t h t f a c t o u h ed orld e taug not ate my hole w u w l that w a a v es do s e c i n e e a r t m e p de cce at th lso ma llege a and th nd t o s c r e d d n but it a a dersta un n s u s e e d i o r t a t r un hem ter g ped co apes t like let h nd s s g e l n y i develo t s th ation a e c f e i l l u t t r d i i e L e . d th r my s. of them instea kful fo t n u a e their b h k , t i ahead l s y t l e h e r g o m em thou xtre I am e becom e their . ow o d m t l u r s d o l n or l to sh l co ew w a h t c e h n p t i u ing ken of e a wa ceptio s mean r r a a e h t p t a y a h e it wh lter m terim t you se a n I n o t e e h k g i l w in le ies wly try njoyab ortunit e p es— e p r am slo o o r fo sm erienc e e p t x m a e o n l c u be ngfu ry fort S. Life meani A S h t I am ve f i o w d. led side plishe d as fil rld out a m o e o t w c s c e n a i ut ve me th nsal ha vents b a e h f o A t s a oui a serie n of Za e r not as d l i h tudent S t the c a 1 1 h e w d y el ra precis rekh, G

a

Anya P

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World

Lang ages Singapore American School’s world language program focuses on interpersonal listening and speaking skills at all levels. Our interest goes beyond the expected content knowledge for students to have, and instead focuses on what they can do with the language.

The language curriculum at SAS is vertically aligned across the school, from kindergarten through high school for each proficiency level, with similar themes and units of study. As students progress through language levels and advance in age, more content and a wider range of skills is expected at higher levels.

When students first begin their language learning journey at the Novice level, learning begins with oral communication including simple words, phrases, and formulaic language that students practice and memorize, so they are able to progress quite quickly through the lower levels. Later, as literacy, narrations, and descriptions, as well as abstract thinking and hypothesizing, are incorporated, complex learning takes more time. Age, maturity, life experience, and progression of thinking skills all contribute to language acquisition and the progression rate.

Every learning activity and every assessment within a unit of study is a performance. Each performance is a snapshot in time of a student’s ability within a certain set of skills and language expectations, and each performance over time builds toward proficiency.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) provides a criterion-referenced assessment called the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) that SAS has used increasingly since the 2013-14 school year.

Students who ended 2015 at a Novice 4 level showed a general range of growth from Intermediate 1 to Intermediate 4

ACTFL PROFICIENCY LEVELS DISTINGUISHED Can reflect on a wide range of global issues and highly abstract concepts, use persuasive hypothetical discourse, and tailor language to a variety of audiences

SUPERIOR Can support opinion, hypothesize, discuss topics concretely and abstractly, and handle a linguistically unfamiliar situation

ADVANCED Can narrate and describe in all major time frames and handle a situation with a complication

INTERMEDIATE Can create with language, ask and answer simple questions on familiar topics, and handle a simple situation or transaction

NOVICE

Can communicate with formulaic and rote utterances, lists, and phrases

AAPPL uses a 10-step scale to describe proficiency and classifies students as Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced. There are four steps within the Novice category and five within the Intermediate category.

The AAPPL scale rates proficiency across four novice stages (N1 through N4), five intermediate stages (I1 through I5), and an advanced stage (A), regardless of grade level. The table below illustrates interpersonal speaking and listening growth among students who studied the same language at SAS in the spring semesters of 2015 and 2016: 2015 proficiency levels are graphed vertically while 2016 levels are plotted horizontally, with the size of each block reflecting the relative number of students in each group.

Elementary

Chinese A I5 I4 I3 I2 I1 n4 n3 n2 n1 n1

For example, in the elementary school, Chinese language students who scored N2 at the end of 2015 most frequently scored N4 or I1 one year later, growing by two to three levels. Interpersonal speaking and listening growth slows as students approach the top ranges in part because the AAPPL scale becomes more nuanced and also because intermediate high and advanced courses integrate an increasing focus on literacy.

Middle

French

High

Spanish

French is not offered in elementary school

2015 levels

Below

A I5 I4 I3 I2 I1 n4 n3 n2 n1 n1

Below

A I5 I4 I3 I2 I1 n4 n3 n2 n1

Below

Below

n1 n1 n2 n3 n4 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 A

n1 n2 n3 n4 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 A

2016 levels

n1 n2 n3 n4 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 A

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nterim Semester

Interim Semester provides students with once-in a-lifetime global learning experiences. In 2016, 1,192 high school students and 118 teachers traveled to 27 different countries to participate in cultural, service, and adventure activities.

•

Gaining deep understanding of photography while discovering and exploring North Punjabi and Rajasthani cultures

•

Working with Fijians on educationbased infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and small scale income generating projects

•

Interacting with former street children in the Philippines to better understand their backgrounds, challenges, and personal issues, as well as to learn about their resilience in the face of adversity

•

Gaining awareness and understanding of Bhutanese cultures while working with rural women and children building libraries

These great learning experiences include: •

Trekking through the amazing Tiger Leaping Gorge in China

•

Connecting with Moroccans to help understand the history and culture from a local perspective

•

Collaborating in small ensembles to create short films using Singapore as the backdrop

•

Documenting the stories of Myanmar citizens who are experiencing the process of democracy building first hand

•

Working in Mashiko, Tochigi, the pottery center of Japan in a handson course about the history of Japanese ceramics

Mixing and pouring cement. Carrying buckets of water. Mortaring and passing cement blocks up and down an assembly line for three days. Our Interim Semester trip to Tanzania would typically send most teenagers screaming in the other direction.

I flew 20 hours from Singapore to Tanzania with 19 other Singapore American School students and our teachers. We stayed in a village called Njoro near the city of Arusha, worked at a local primary school on a dining hall construction site, and taught English to the students. We lived with two of the kindest people you could ever meet: Mamma Anna hugged us without fail every time we saw her, and Baba Reuben, who even in his retirement, was trying to improve any aspect of life he could for his village. At the end of each day as we all trudged back to Mama and Baba’s house, bruised and tired, we chatted eagerly about the progress we made and the effort it took. As our foundation slowly took shape, head mason Manyada explained to us that not only were we helping to build a sanitary place for their children to eat lunch, but also a much-needed space for the tight-knit community to gather and celebrate important moments in their lives such as weddings, christenings, and funerals. The air rang with the constant exchange of Swahili and English. It was always a good measure of how badly we were butchering something in Swahili by how much the 10-year-olds giggled at us. The universal languages of laughter and soccer bonded us, and at any moment, at least three children were hanging off any SAS student, learning how to use their camera, playing hairdresser, or teaching us a new clapping game or song. On our last day, the school principal and village officials surprised us with a ceremony and thanked us for our contribution to the school and community. Each SAS student and teacher was wreathed with a garland of purple flowers by students who had all picked and sewn them together for us. I waved to Vivienne, one of the girls whom I’d spent a lot of time teaching and playing with, and thought about how much Njoro was giving us in return for the short time we were lucky enough to work there.

Charlotte Reimer Grade 11

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Classroom

Withou Walls The Classroom Without Walls program extends middle school student learning beyond experiences they can gain at school by traveling to Malaysia, Indonesia, and offshore islands of Singapore. The primary goal is for students to build positive relationships, trust, and cooperation with their peers and teachers by facing unique challenges and experiences outside of the classroom. Through these challenges and experiences, students are given opportunities to grow as individuals and to build their self-esteem.

Photo scavenger hunt around Changi Village

Full day at Adventure Cove waterpark

Hiking at Pulau Ubin

Grade six Singapore

An evening of bowling

Eating at a local hawker center

1,200 ferry tickets purchased

Sandcastle building with homebases

Homebase Minute to Win It competition

Gra SEV Mala

Free ti the bea water

60,000 15 total human hours spent away from campus

liters of suncreen applied

Evening barbeque where students cook their own food

ade VEN aysia

ime at ach and r park

Studentchoreographed synchronized swimming competition

3,020 948 0 $1,187

kilometers traveled by bus

happy kids

Jumping off the tower and into the sea at Telunas

Service work in Indonesian villages

trips to the hospital

worth of long distance phone calls back to SIngapore

Skits and karaoke dance parties

Grade EIGHT Indonesia Cultural activities such as fishing, cooking, and pottery

Team-building activities on the beach

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Service

L arning

Opportunities for service abound for SAS students from kindergarten through grade 12, both at school and in the community. Scores of student-led initiatives have flourished over the years, and new ones are constantly evolving in response to local and global needs. In 2015-16, we completed a curriculum review of our service learning program; this process will be ongoing, as we look for opportunities to embed service learning within new curriculum frameworks like the College, Career and Civic Life (C3) social studies standard framework and Next Generation Science Standards.

Elementary School Service Learning •

Kindergarten classes befriended stroke victims at the Adventist Rehabilitation Centre, coaxing movement through games, molding clay, and waving scarves.

•

First grade students interacted with their Singaporean buddies from Seng Kang Primary School by building relationships, celebrating festivals, and playing ethnic games.

•

Second grade students raised S$46,165 for Food From the Heart in their annual Walk-A-Thon.

They also formed a partnership with Seng Kang Primary and learned about plants and planting together.

•

Third grade students conducted “Read to Feed” fundraising for the nonprofit Heifer International and the local Singapore Leprosy Relief Association home.

•

Fourth grade students engaged in innovative projects integrating the RLA, science, and social studies curriculum units with a sequence of outdoor experiences.

•

Fifth grade students provided elder care, teaching arts and crafts to the elderly at Christalite Methodist Home.

Middle School Service Learning •

Sixth grade students conducted awareness campaigns for conservation of fresh water and eradication of water-borne diseases.

•

Seventh grade social studies and science classes linked their curriculum to address issues around poverty and conservation of resources.

•

Eighth grade students took part in service learning projects at local schools during the weeklong Classroom Without Walls trip to Telunas, Indonesia and during the school year completed service projects of their individual choice, with homebase teachers mentoring student service learning experiences. Students also had service opportunities through afterschool clubs such as Roots and Shoots, Caring for Cambodia Club, Instruments for Peace, Care Corner, and Crystal Music.

High School Service Learning With over 50 different service club options, high school students were able to personalize their service opportunities around beliefs, causes, and needs they felt connected to. Some highlights in 2015-16 were:

World renowned service leader Cathy Berger Kaye visited SAS, allowing the community here to work with and learn from her. Although we have followed Kaye’s model of the five stages of service learning

•

Caring for Cambodia took a service trip over Thanksgiving and trained Cambodian classroom teachers and distributed hygiene packs.

•

Tabitha service club members constructed homes in Cambodia during Thanksgiving.

•

Over 200 students, teachers, and parents participated in Walk for Water and raised S$38,532, enough money to build 214 wells in Cambodia.

depth of understanding of her ideologies. This

After extensive research, the Executive Service Council officers donated the remainder of Nepal earthquake fundraiser funds to All Hands volunteers.

not only me, but all of my fellow peers to

•

•

SAVE club nursery volunteered at Singapore Botanic Gardens to care for native tree seedlings and saplings.

•

Wish For Kids Club took their annual summer trip to Cebu, Philippines and helped build leadership skills in local school student leaders, gave donations of clothes and medicine, and collaborated with long-term partners.

•

Tassel Club took a service trip to Cambodia over the summer with students from Tassel chapters from California. They worked to support education by Skyping during the year with Cambodian students and serving in country.

•

For Kids Club took a service trip in the summer to China to plant trees and help reforest degraded areas.

•

Leprosy Home volunteers went to the Leprosy Home every Friday to donate food and interact with residents.

•

Youth Aiding China and Singapore worked in both Singapore and China to improve access to education, promote girls’ leadership, and help build and connect communities locally and globally.

•

Peace Initiative raised funds to donate to Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation and advocated all year through speaker’s corner events and days of silence for human rights.

(investigation, preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration) for years, actually interacting with her provided us with a new was easily the most impactful and important service opportunity last year, as she inspired think deeper about what authentic and sustained service is.

Justin Choi Grade 11

4

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e f mily sp uple o o c a ed in ool escrib and le sch d g n e i s b o aculty f t l The l e u h f t d by h too lcome to d muc e n w a y t l r week m a r sho a n w a h e t wer ore s. We ith ake m e t c t ’ n n e t d long w di a t sen , i e r d e n s, a ity h is familie mmun o S c A e S rowth, h g T d . the n d ga nge learnin ly belo r u o r f t s e itie feel w portun p o t n e agnific the m . arable p m o c in rent ur fa year o

Suzy

S Pa

t, SA Garret

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Adm ssions

What a story we have to tell at SAS, and what a privilege to tell it! Very quickly, parents who review the depth of possibilities and results at SAS realize this: Every school makes promises, but SAS gives you reasons to believe.

This annual report testifies to the goods that SAS delivers.

Our goal in admissions is to make sure we tell the heart of the SAS story well, and that we help families sort through not only the ‘hows’ but the ‘whys’ of choosing a school for their family. It is also to build the kind of learning community that will fulfill our destiny and future as a school, one cohort, one family, and one applicant at a time.

There always have been and always will be opportunities for new families to join SAS. We consistently say goodbye to between 800 and 1,000 students each year, and we actively look for suitable candidates to take their places every August and January.

SAS has learned a lot this year about what makes it attractive to others. We have listened to the booming number of families who transfer to SAS from other international schools in Singapore. This transfer population is growing, and sits at about 30 percent of all acceptances.

Why are families in Singapore choosing to move to SAS, even after settling in another school? The list of reasons is long and, in many cases emotional, but here are some highlights. Parents seek: • • • • • • • • • •

Professionals who stay; parents love the longevity and commitment of SAS teachers A focus on student learning and not business as the heart of education Greater academic challenge Trustworthy, informative assessments that identify gaps and pinpoint strengths Holistic growth for children anxious and burned out because of academic competition between parents and peers Personalized instruction that allows children to be truly seen and valued Expert course placement and scheduling Solid organizational health and a school where promises are kept and results are proven The confidence, leadership, and relational skills they see in the SAS students they meet A remedy for the nagging feeling that “there must be more” to education than what their child is currently experiencing

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2015-16

3,946 students at SAS

N

th Americ or

a

2,529 64%

US Canada Mexico

2,424 104 1

Student

ou

th A m er i c

18

a

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Bolivia Columbia Brazil Peru

DemograPhi s

1 2 10 5

Actual numbers

by Grade

op Eu r e

172

PS

PK

k

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

48 113 211 286 287 286 286 286 316 314 318 307 299 307 282

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands Portugal Romania Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland UK

3 7 2 9 3 11 7 1 4 1 15 8 1 3 11 6 17 63

A si a

1,144 29%

Bangladesh China Hong Kong India Indonesia Israel Japan Korea Kuwait Malaysia Myammar Nepal Pakistan Philippines Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Turkey Vietnam

1 94 13 289 33 1 79 248 1 18 1 1 5 73 249 2 17 13 1 5

Africa

11

12

Angola South Africa

4 7

stralia Au

72

Australia New Zealand

52 20

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Human

4

Reso rces

55

0

Canada

9%

As a world-class establishment, we recognize one of our most important tasks is to attract the very best employees. In 2015-16 we received over 2,700 job applications for faculty and staff positions. In hiring, we consider only the most qualified and best teachers, but also individuals who understand and embrace our vision and believe in delivering our anchors of excellence, extraordinary care, and possibilities.

2015-16 Staff Demographics

Administration Faculty Support Staff

24 377 242

Years of

Service

7 6 4 5 2 Administration

Years 0-2 3-5 6-8 9-11 12+

103

85

55 47

87

Faculty

Years 0-2 3-5 6-8 9-11 12+

67 53 Support

81 24 17

Years 0-2 3-5 6-8 9-11 12+

15 222 16

UNITED STATES

39%

2

15

0

New Zealand

3%

When I first realized that I was coming to such a prestigious school, I was nervous. I did research 1

15

and noticed that teachers stayed for multiple

1

UNITED KINGDOM

years and held amazing accomplishments such

3%

as being authors of books and holding master’s and doctoral degrees. When I first arrived at the airport, I remember the warm welcome that really set the tone for the rest of the year. They 0

take into consideration that you are living away

12 185

Singapore

from family and want you to feel welcome and

31%

comfortable. With that, they push you to be your best and help you master your craft in the classroom with amazing resources and coaches.

The one thing I like most about SAS is its caring attitude and how people always come first.

Though it can become very busy throughout the year at SAS, people always show that they are thinking of you and hope you are doing well.

What a great place to build relationships and teach amazing kids!

Gary Gray

Grade Three Teacher 1

22

0

AUSTRALIA

4%

Educational Qualifications Administration Doctorate Master’s Bachelor’s

1

36

4 14 6

40

Others

11%

Faculty Doctorate

7 273

Master’s Bachelor’s International Teaching Diploma

95 2

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P A

The Parent-Teacher Association is a volunteer association with the goal of building community at SAS by organizing events and activities throughout the year which bring together school and family. By hosting welcome events for new families, sponsoring division coffees, and providing on-campus volunteer opportunities, the PTA facilitates parent interaction and involvement at SAS. New to the 2015-16 school year was the establishment of English-language conversation groups to help our SAS parents who do not speak English as a first language.

The PTA also sponsors programs to enhance the educational experience of all SAS students. Our parent volunteers coordinate with division administrations to organize parties and to sponsor various events for our students in all divisions. The PTA recognizes SAS faculty and staff through the annual Staff Appreciation Day. Activities and events of the PTA include fundraising and community building. Some such events of the 2015-16 school year were the August uniform sales, the Ice Cream Social during Open House, the Book Fair and the International Fair. The International Fair was a new event for the PTA in 2015-16 that combined the old County Fair and International Food Fest events. The event was a huge success and better reflects the school’s international community.

The funds raised through PTA uniform sales and events support all divisions throughout the year through sponsorship of parties and other events in the elementary and middle school division and through support of community service clubs and Interim Semester and senior scholarships in the high school. In addition, the PTA seeks to enrich the educational experience of all SAS students by sponsoring the academic visitors-in-residence program which brings to SAS authors, artists, dancers, musicians, and other subject matter experts. In May, the PTA donated S$200,000 to the SAS Foundation to fund the academic visitors-in-residence program as well as divisional requests, all due to the efforts of parent volunteers.

The 2015-16 PTA Executive Board President

Morgan Frontczak

Vice President

Mina Bregman

Secretary

Cayce Cirino

Treasurer

Christine Miyasaki

Parliamentarian

Becky Moseley

Expenditures Donation to SAS Foundation Community Events HIGH SCHOOL Clubs Hospitality/Welcoming Scholarships ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL Events General and Administrative HIGH SCHOOL Programs MIDDLE SCHOOL Programs PTA Sales

$200,000 $78,000 $32,000 $29,000 $24,000 $19,000 $15,000 $10,000 $10,000 $9,000

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BOOS ER Club

For the fifth year in a row, the Booster Club enjoyed a fantastic school year with record-breaking revenues. The Booster Club is a parent volunteer organization dedicated to supporting extracurricular, cultural, and scholastic activities. In addition to financial support, we build school spirit, encourage teamwork, and promote sportsmanship. We strive to work closely with administration to enrich our students’ experience at SAS. In the 2015-16 school year, the Booster Club contributed S$119,000 to fund various high school student programs and activities with the support of dedicated high school parents.

Expenditures Athletics and activities Visual and performing arts Senior celebration Student clubs & activities Advisory Scholar’s List lunch SCHOLARSHIPS IASAS Other

The 2015-16 Booster Club Board President

Lan Fisher

Vice President

Kay Schot

Secretary

Doreen Chou

Treasurer

Mary Kate Wallace

Parliamentarian

Heide Angell

$30,000 $9,000 $16,600 $5,600 $2,500 $6,300 $47,000 $1,000 $1,000

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A umni Relations

This year the school hosted a 60th anniversary weekend attended by over 250 alumni from around the world. The event brought more than 1,000 years’ worth of combined SAS experiences to our Woodlands campus where alumni gushed about the glory days, reconnected with old friends, and once again had the chance to enjoy vintage Mr. Hoe meals.

My wife Susan (Class of 1980) and I can never contain our excitement when old friends return to visit Singapore. As we celebrated the school’s 60th anniversary, we were thrilled to see over 250 alumni turn out for the celebration. We knew almost all those who attended from the 70s and 80s eras, and enjoyed catching up. For some of these folks, it had been over 35 years since graduation. It was an emotional weekend marked by joy and nostalgia as we sat down at many of our old haunts, visited former homes, stopped by original campus locations, and witnessed the amazement of our friends as they took in the incredible changes that both SAS and Singapore have undergone over the past 60 years.

While many of us have moved on and have lives around the world, we continue to share a unique and special bond as alumni of SAS and former third culture kids. While many things change, the student experience at SAS and the time enjoyed living abroad provide ties that will remain for a lifetime.

Greg Rutledge

Class of 1978

Section

5

FACILITIES Our outstanding facilities team continues to outperform our expectations.

They doubled the instructional space on the first floor of the Center of Innovation by consolidating the library collection, removing static walls and partitions, and building prototype rolling walls that can be moved to create unique learning environments to better support student projects. They created collaborative areas called think tanks, and built multiple areas in which groups of students and professionals can work together to achieve common goals.

Dennis Steigerwald, Center of Innovation Coordinator

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Fa ilities

With a team of 25 SAS direct employees and a variety of contractors, the facilities office oversaw multiple large-scale projects enjoyed by thousands of students, parents, and guests during 2015-16. The team managed 36 acres of grounds that enhance student learning.

Facilities

operations

Security

•

•

SAS achieved recertification as a Green Mark Gold facility by the Building Control Authority.

•

A computer-based visitor management system was implemented at the main guard post.

•

The integration of the Yeap Transport bus system with the SASCard system enabled the bus office to help parents track student locations in real time as they traveled home from campus.

•

Security operations were audited and reviewed as part of our annual systems audit.

•

A facilities visioning process was completed, which will lead to the development of a facilities master plan.

•

Facilities purchasing practices were reviewed to bring assurance that good practices and controls are in place.

The high school auditorium was renewed this year and with the help of an anonymous alumni donor, we were able to install Meyer Sound’s cutting-edge Constellation acoustic system, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.

The SGD$8.8 million renewal project involved dozens of contractors and took just under 12 weeks to complete.

•

The early childhood center underwent the first phase of renewal to help support the new Reggio Emilia-inspired curriculum that was debuted. The project opened the preschool space to more light and created a series of hubs for students to discover and explore.

•

The SAS rainforest pathway received a makeover and a beautiful wooden path was laid to help preserve the root systems of our natural greenery.

•

A museum-grade heritage gallery project was successfully completed to showcase the history and celebration of innovation at SAS. It’s a must-see part of every SAS tour.

bus statistics

135

86%

256

buses

of the student population travel to school on school buses

regular trips daily

97%

99.89%

of bus riders have a journey time within the contracted 55 minutes

All our buses conform to the Euro diesel standard

4 or 5

of the total trips were on schedule

Provided safe, reliable, and quality transportation for

3,165 students daily

0.008% of the total trips had reported accidents

2

inspections per year

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Facilities Fun Facts 2,300

RT

tons air-conditioning capacity

493

electrical subboards and distribution boards

130

drinking fountains

10

749

toilets

168

fire hose reels

13

swimming pool pumps

3

593

fire extinguishers

10

art kilns

11

stadium lighting towers

7

automated road barriers

standby generators

A/C cooling towers

9

1,084,709

6,770

enhanced lightning protection systems

9,929,292 kWh of electricity consumed

kWh of electricity produced

5,600

new SAS cards issued

work requests received

170

summer works projects

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Energy Consumption 2014-15 2007-08 13 million kWh $3.2 million 3,757 students 93,917 square meters

Energy (KWH) Energy (SGD)

Solar production

10 million kWh $2.3 million 3,934 students 99,044 square meters

2015-16 9.93 million kWh $2.24 million 3,946 students 99,044 square meters

Water Consumption 2011-12 160,690 Cubic meters $355,104 3,878 students 99,043 square meters

Water (SGD) Water (Cubic Meters)

2014-15 142,091 Cubic meters $318,786 3,934 students 99,044 square meters

2015-16 113,112 Cubic meters $264,101 3,946 students 99,044 square meters

Section

6

RESOURCING AN EXCELLENT

EDUCATION

Providing a high-quality education is an expensive undertaking, especially internationally. As a result of the generosity of previous generations of SAS families as well as prudent financial management, today SAS finds itself in an enviable financial position with financial reserves and no debt. This is important, as SAS will be able to continue to invest in its staff and programs in the case of more difficult economic conditions.

Paul Bernard, SAS Board Member

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Finan ial Review

We are pleased to report that our audited financial results for the 2015-16 school year compare favorably to the budget approved by the board in March 2015. Overall revenues were favorable to budget due to full enrollment despite numerous vacancies at competing schools, as well as successful fundraising efforts.

Operating expenses modestly exceeded budget due to upward trends in salaries and benefits costs, 60th anniversary expenditures, and higher technology and innovation costs. Non-operating revenues included a large realized gain in the school’s investments. Overall, the total surplus amounted to S$7.3 million favorable to budget. Adjusted for strong fundraising and investment income variances, the actual operating income variance was approximately S$1.6 million, or 1.1 percent of budgeted revenues.

School-Wide Revenues, 2015-16 Enrollmentrelated income comprised 92 percent of total revenues.

Donations, investment income, and the guaranteed placement program contributed to the remaining 8 percent.

Annual facility fees

Other income

100% 8%

6%

School fees

74%

Registration fees

12%

3% 100% 3%

Administration

School-Wide Expenses, 2015-16 Percentages of school-wide costs were similar to last year, with salaries and benefits costs rising by 1 percent to 67 percent. Campus operations and planned reserves allocations both dropped by 1 percent, while research and development rose to 1 percent from 0.4 percent last year.

Technology

Planned reserves

4%

Learning resources

6%

Campus operations

16% Salaries & benefits

67%

Research & development

1%

Planned reserves Established in 2007, the reserves are intended to ensure the school’s longterm financial health. The operating reserve provides a backstop in case of an unexpected decline in enrollment, while the facilities reserve underpins the long-term facilities plan. The endowment fund will support and enhance school programs and reduce reliance on tuition and fees. The school’s reserves and endowment began the 2015-16 year with $160.5 million in total funds. The addition of surpluses from fiscal year 2014-15, budgeted allocations from the 2015-16 budget, and positive investment returns resulted in a total valuation of nearly $170.5 million on June 30, 2016.

A non-profit, member-based school with strong financial planning and oversight SAS seeks to operate according to the highest standards of financial accountability and transparency. As a nonprofit institution incorporated in the Republic of Singapore and recognized under the Singapore Charities Act, SAS must direct any financial surpluses solely to the betterment of the school. All current parents and school employees are school members, unless they formally opt out. Members participate in the school’s governance by electing twelve fellow members to the school board.

School Board 12 current parents elected by the members serve without remuneration on the school board. The board is responsible for the strategic oversight of the school, including financial planning and commissioning the annual audit. The board also oversees the superintendent.

Facilities & Finance Committee and Investment Advisory Committee

Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer

Two board committees composed of board members and other parents with financial expertise are responsible for developing specific financial policies.

The Facilities and Finance Committee sets the annual budget and fees schedule, and oversees the school’s long-term facilities plan. The Investment and Advisory Committee directs the school’s investment policies.

The superintendent is responsible for directing the day-to-day operations of the school. The chief financial officer works under the direction of the superintendent to implement the decisions of the school board and its committees and to ensure that the school’s resources are managed efficiently and responsibly.

Oversight and Review Council for Private Education

Annual Financial Audit

As one of Singapore’s Foreign System Schools, SAS is regulated by the Singapore government through the Ministry of Education’s Council for Private Education (CPE). The CPE’s regulations ensure that all private and international schools in Singapore are committed to financial solvency, and all families selecting these schools understand their tuition and fee obligations. The annual student contract that SAS families receive is a CPE requirement.

The school hires a respected auditor (in recent years KPMG) to conduct an annual audit of its financial statements. This audit takes place each summer, and its results are made available to parents before the annual general meeting. Approval of the accredited financials is an important element of the annual general meeting.

Transparency The board and the SAS leadership team are committed to fostering open communication regarding financial matters.

All members are invited to the school’s October annual general meeting and February budget meeting. For the past five years, the school leadership has published a finance column in the SAS eNews; this now comprises over 80 articles, accessible at Finance@SAS on the school website. Finance-related questions and feedback are always welcome.

The healthy state of the school’s finances reflects the continued efforts of the board and the administration to maintain and improve the school’s long-term financial health. We take seriously our responsibility of managing the resources entrusted to us by the parents of current and former students, and we look forward to an exciting future for Singapore American School.

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Advan ement

What is advancement? Advancement is an integrated model of managing relationships. Advancement includes the disciplines of development, or fundraising, and alumni relations. In advancement at SAS, we have brought the two together. This is a word that you will see more often.

60th anniversary

Annual giving

SAS celebrated its 60th year in 2016, an occasion that was celebrated throughout the year culminating in a weekend of events for alumni, donors, and faculty and staff. Connecting the past and the present, 250 alumni from all over the world and 200 donors joined together to celebrate history and tradition with cocktails, dinner, and dancing on the first night, with a commemoration ceremony, a hawker luncheon featuring alumni cafeteria favorites by Mr. Hoe and his staff, and campus tours for the visiting alumni the following day.

With the belief that all gifts matter, we shifted our annual giving efforts to a more inclusive approach. Fundraising at SAS throughout the past 10 years has been driven by a gala, but this volunteer- and time-intensive format limited the number of how people who could participate and ultimately how much money we could raise. Instead of asking parents and alumni to attend a fundraiser to support the school, we asked them to make a gift because of the impact it has on SAS students.

Stewardship and communication A major focus in the 2015-16 year was to demonstrate and communicate the impact that philanthropy has on SAS. We increased the frequency with which we shared stories of this impact with our donor community, and shared many of these stories with the school community.

We also recognized our most generous annual donors—those who give $1,000 SGD or more—as inaugural members of the Eagle Society.

With more ways to support school this year, we saw an increase in participation to 11 percent of the parent population. We also saw a significant increase in the dollars raised, and raised S$3.96 million in total from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

Reserves Policy: SAS Foundation (Singapore) will maintain 25% of annual revenue as reserves, subject to an incremental cap of $50,000 each year and an overall cumulative cap of $120,000.

Reserves Investment Policy: Reserves will only be invested in cash, in fixed deposits, and high-liquidity investments.

Conflicts of Interest Policy: Directors of SAS Foundation (Singapore) will submit their conflict of interest disclosure statement upon assuming office and at least annually; either by affirmative disclosure in which directors state that they do not know of any potential or actual conflict of interest, or by full disclosure of their outside interests. To see the policy in its entirety, please visit http://bit.ly/sasconflictofinterest Executive management: The SAS Foundation Ltd has no paid employees.

Audit: We will make available the audited accounts of the SAS Foundation Ltd to interested parties upon request to sasfoundation@sas.edu.sg.

As members of the Annual Giving committee, we’ve focused our work on increasing schoolwide participation by educating the school community on the significant value of gifts and how they are used by the school. This year, we were proud to invite new families into our home to hear about the critical role of the SAS Foundation in shaping the future of our school. Participation begins with you, and you can make a difference in the opportunities your child is given during your stay here in Singapore.

Michelle Scurfield and Family

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the SAS Foundations Honor roll of DONORS

2015-16

Member of the eagle society1956 CIRCLE S$50,000 AND ABOVE Tim Chen and Chrissy Luo Eck Kheng Goh and Anita Fam Vikram and Shruti Hora

Seunghwan Lee and Shinyoung Kang Helman and Maria Sitohang Kenji and Astrid (‘96) Taira

Ray and Kaori Zage David Zemans and Catherine Poyen Zemans

eagle society Benefactor $25,000 - $49,999 Yen Yeo and Jenny Chen

Chris Misner and Crystal Hayling

Richard and Jacqueline Seow

Michael and Shelly Dee

Kishore and Anjali Moorjani

Adrian and Clarice Chia Woodworth

Brooks and Laura Entwistle

Mark Nelson and Margrit Benton

Alvin and Juanita Hew

Rick and Michelle Scurfield

eagle society Patron $10,000 - $24,999 Gerard and Dominique Ah-Hot

Michael Langlois and Anita Tan

Marianne Chua and Billy Siu

Peng Huat and Swat Ang

Kaling Lim and Seok Yee Lau

Bis Subramanian and Laura Vidal-Oregui

Anonymous

Scott and Maria Luedeke

Christopher and Chantal Tan

Fanny Barki

Alan and Christine Miyasaki

Cheng Teik and Betty Tan

Haywood and Joanne Blakemore

Rudy and Andrea Muller

Rohet and Arshna Tolani

Drew and Jack Brick

Brian O’Connor and Nancy Menayang

Jessica Welirang

Wing Kwong Chan and Vivian Liu

Fumio and Maki Osanai

Phillip Widjaja and Patricia Kaunang

Debashish Dutta Gupta and Shobha Punukollu

Manny and Maya Patel

Adrian and Carol Yeap

Guy and Noemi Elliott Kevin and Amy Gould Nick Haslett ‘03 Chip and Cheryl Kimball

Adrian and Susan Peh Kim and Birgitte Rosenkilde Sameer and Yamile Sain Alston Salim ‘05 John Shen and Jessie Liu

eagle society Fellow $5,000 - $9,999 Jeremy and Georgina Bach

Brian and Tina King

Paul Bernard and Shirley Fung

Anand and Teresa Kumar

Bart and Valerie Broadman

Steven and Rebecca LaNasa

Dickon and Ito Corrado

Henry Law and Alice Shyu

Judson and Anne Duncan

Kevin and Kellie Meehan

Christopher and Joan Fix

Ilian Mihov and Ralitza Peeva

Tetsuichi and Kaoru Fujiwara

Samba Natarajan and Vidya Sambamurthy

Taizo and Yumiko Hasebe

Steve Payne and Tamera Fillinger

Tim Holland and Mae Loon

Sandro Raniolo and Christine Pillsbury

Yoshihiro and Nozomi Kaneda

Gregory and Regina Salathe

Shailendra Singh and Svetlana Dunaevskaya Brent and Sandra Smith Evgeny Tugolukov and Natalya Pavchinskaya Sean and Lisa Wallace Teddy Wirianata and Judith Carlotta Steven Yeo and Yvonne Ng Xiangdong Zhang and Lei Ma Ziwei Zhou and Audrey Pang

eagle society Friend $2,500 - $4,999 Anonymous

Alexander and Kaarin Hardy

Deepak Kumar and Rachana Singh

Xiaobo Chen and Yan Zeng

Alex and Anouk Hungate

Amit and Spradha Sinha

Jason and Beth Cone

Manish and Mudra Kapoor

Mark and Jodie Strecker

Leif and Alison Eskesen

Young Bae Ku and Lucy Gee

Jeffrey Tolk and Astrid Tuminez

Junaid Farooq and Sujatha Venkatramanan

David and Julia Lowther

Bob and Ann Marie White

Paul and Morgan Frontczak

Kevin Lu and Joanna Wang

Wei and Helen Xiong

Qiang Fu and Bo Pu

Richard Nijkerk and Lauren Bogen

Savady and Megan Yem

Michael and Britt Garrison

Rajiv Ramanathan and Arpana Vidyarthi

Hankun Zhao and Jiexia Liu

Kyu Shik Hahn and Eui Jeong Song

Elizabeth Schwarze

David Hamilton and Jessica Blaustein

Anne B Seator ‘90

eagle society Member $1,000 - $2,499 Ehab Abou-oaf and Gina Elzoheiry

Dwight Hutchins and Maria Castillo-Ruiz

Jason and Mindy Pilger

Ravi and Sunanda Agarwal

Susumu and Etsuyo Ito

Shiv and Reshma Puri

Sundaram Aiyer and Ruma Balasubramanian

Rishi and Anuja Jaitly

Yongqiang Qian and Jia Yu

Kyle (‘02) and Leah Aldous

Michael (‘94) and Alexandria Johnson

Shekhar Rapaka and Sujata Hodarkar

Anonymous

Shumit and Ritu Kapoor

Paul Rathband and Buan Yeo

Rahul and Kristine Arora

Chris Khang and Eun Young Sim

Chris Raymaakers and Robin Balshaw-Raymaakers

Chris Beingessner and Brenda Baisley

Devin Kimble and Amy Sittler

Martin and Fiona Riant

Mark and Kathleen Bonaguro

Alex and Claudia Kimura

Matthew (‘95) and Vicki (‘95) Rogers

John and Stephanie Bradshaw

Benjamin and Kathy Kwak

Garth and Mina Bregman

Michi Lai and Bonnie Wang

Gregory Rutledge ‘78 and Susan StudebakerRutledge ‘80

Jeremy and Willow Brest

Ranjit and Gauri Lakhanpal

Scott and Sara Brown

Ashok and Garima Lalwani

Robert and Kate Brundage

Brad Levitt and Selena Freese

Eric Bryars and Cynthia Cheong

Xuepeng Li and Zhao Jin

John and Emily Chang

Wen-Chi Liao and Hui-Chen Chen

Yongbiao Chang and Haiyan Liu

David and Frances Lim

Fang Chen and Yanni Zhao

Hao Liu and Shanshan Chen

Raymond Ching and Joy Tan

Hongbin Liu and Ziyan Dong

Allen Chu and Mary Kuo

Thai-Ker and Gretchen Liu

Justin Chuo and Nora Pang

Joe and Leah Liu

Jose Cruz and Lisa Yeoh

Bob and Mary Livingston

Phillip and Shelley DeFord

Tomer Loiter and Verena Siow

Shiv and Roopa Dewan

Stephen and Lai Ly

Roy Diao and Grace Young

Jeff and Joy Marino

Nick Dingemans and Dianna Goodwin

Scott and Kelly Marshall

Glenn and Angelique Dittrich

Rick Mayo-Smith and Thi My Duc Tran

Manjiv Dodanwela and Shiralee Fernando

Daniel and Lori McConaghy

Joe Duncan and Sarah Wang

Steve Meade

Amir and Nathalie Emami Darin and Sara Fahrney Stephen Fisher and Shijung Park Thomas and Dina Fuller Shawn Galey and Katherine Krummert Jacob George and Levy Goenawan Caleb and Kazuyo Gibbons Eck Meng Goh Evy Gozali ‘97 Tim and Diane Greisinger Bob and Judy Gross Arjun and Adeline Gupta Guojun He and Stella Sun Callum and Tamara Henderson David Hoss

Ashish Saksena and Sonal Priyanka Felipe H Sanchez and Quyen Nguyen Do William and Martha Scarborough Benjamin Segal and Jackie Mahal Amit and Luz Sevak J Mark Shields and Mami Hirota Richard and Teresa Smith Nick and Jennifer Sparrow Mike and Vanessa Spier Tim and Mona Stuart Scott Sullivan and Anna Marrs Lilien Sun Cynthia Sung and Neil Clarke Dave and Leslie Swift Hemant and Nimeesha Takalkar George Tanasijevich and Georgia Kolettis Quan Tang and Nina Zhang Eric and Amy Thompson

Alan and Mae-Ling Tien Pedro Peixoto Fernandes Mendonca and Karine Souza Collese Fernandes Mendonca Karthik Tirupathi and Malini Balakrishnan Javier Curtichs Moncusi and Gemma Blascomartinez Scott and Sarah Morris Brent and Maggie Mutsch Raj Nair and Karen Lim Sung Namgoong and So Yeon Lee Doug and Maureen Neihart Kellar and Dee Nevill Sergei O’Saerang ‘95 and Herlina Lim ‘96 Nathan and Sammie Oliver Thomas and Paula Olsen Byung Woo Park William and Shelby Pazos Don and Lyn Reed Pesek

Steven and Asa Tucker Kamal and Swapna Verma Michael and Claire Wahl Andy and Karen Walz Jungang Wang and Linda Huang Cindy Watters Paul Welsh and Lauren Mehrbach Christian and Monica Wendel Anthony Wong and Rachel Khor Xi Wu and Xuemei Dai Evan Xiang and Shirley Xu Jie Zhang and Zhaoxi Wu Sung Yong Do and Michelle Hwang

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Individual < $1,000 Todd and Debra Alexander

Leah J Hevey

Sukumar Rajah and Priyamvada Sukumar

Chris Andraca ‘88

Betty Hintz

Matthew and Cathryn Ray

Marc (‘87) and Deb Andraca

Xiaoming Hu and Li Meng

John Redick and Pauline Nelson

Anonymous

Yiyong Huo and Danyang Ru

James Roderick ‘65

Nitin Bajaj and Simran Sethi

Kazi and Nuzhat Kazi

Daniel and Marion Rubin

Shari Vo-Ta Barnidge ‘98

Tony Khoo and Ginny Leong

Ken Schunk

Bill Bass ‘87

Danny Kim and YoungMi Yoon

Laura Chirnside Schuster

Doug Behse

Itthichai and Ratchada Kittismidh

Doug and Sue Seator

Amy Bell

John and Diane Knox

Vivek and Simmi Sekhar

Ronald Brett and Jiamin Yue

Li Peng Koh

Bhavesh and Nita Shah

Treena Casey

Jeffrey and Jennifer Koltutsky

Tiritabua and Susan Shaw

Yeow Hiang Chan and Yuko Tamaki

Vincent Kou and Mei Chin Wang

Shaibal and Madhabi Sinha

Yeow Ming Choo and Ling Zheng

John Kukla ‘76

Eric and Joanna Skubish

Shilpi and Kavita Chowdhary

Amit Kunal and Shradha Nayan

Dan Smith ‘93

Russell Cooke

Charles Lam ‘03

Gregory Smith ‘83

Kenneth and Lauri Coulter

Nicholas Laveris ‘79

Michael and Regina Smith

Mike and Kim Crawford

Kevin Lee and Michelle Gong

Tim (‘89) and Clare Smith

Rebecca Crawshaw ‘77

Shang Li and Chang Ching Liu

Ellen Snow ‘12

Kaelan Cuozzo ‘15

Tong Lin and Ting Lu

Griffin C Snow ‘15

Tony Day and Sarah Weiss

Johan and Lana Luhur

Adam Sprankell ‘92

David DeLorenzo and Colleen Sellers

Miguel R Martin ‘88

Ron Starker and Kate Bucknall

Matthew and Lydia Dill

April and Bill McDaniel

Ingrid Stephan ‘68

Jake Emerson ‘04

Deanna D McDonald ‘86

Brett and Elizabeth Sweeney

Susan Ewert ‘73

Ian Morgan ‘85

Zak and Heather Ungerman

Brian Fabbri and Natalia Shuman-Fabbri

Francois and Marmee Morin

Raju and Reema Uttamchandani

Douglas J Fagan ‘05

Aseem Nambiar ‘06

Jennifer Wagner ‘88

James Fan ‘10

Nikhil and Pavini Nath

Melissa Waldie ‘70

Danny Agustin Flores ‘76

The Newby Family

David and Tina Walton

Karen L Fullerton ‘85

Noreen O’Donnell ‘73

Xu Mei Mao and Fuhui Wan

Daniel and Ana Maria Gach

Craig Olsen and Jo McIlroy

Rose Wang

Jeffrey and Cynthia Gondobintoro

Richard Payne and Patricia Chiota

Jonathan and Junko Wise

Beth and Jim Gribbon

Ian Pierini and Tomoko Suzuki

David Wong ‘91

Aabir Ishan Gupta ‘10

Bill and Margaret Poorman

Patrick Wong and Linda Liang

Sanjiv and Asha Gupta

Deacon Powell ‘88

Amanda Wood

Heike Hanz

Chee Khoon Quah and Amanda Lee

Madeleine Zemans ‘19

Philip Haslett ‘05

Robert Quek and Siok Hui Sim

Morgan Zhang and Ying Chu

Bob Helmer

William P Quinn ‘88

Susan Zhang

Douglas and Moemi Heskamp

Omar and Katie Powell Rachid

Organizations Apple, Inc.

Lands’ End Inc.

Technologies Creation Pte Ltd

Capital International Inc.

McDonald’s Corporation

The Hoglund Foundation

DB Acoustics Pte Ltd

Nike, Inc.

The Moody’s Foundation

Emerson Charitable Trust

Phillips 66

Yeap Transport Pte Ltd

Everpaint Enterprise Pte Ltd

SAS Parent Teacher Association

Chevron Corporation

GDS Engineering Pte Ltd

Soh & Tan Enterprises Pte Ltd

Zhou Hin Engineering Pte Ltd

Hoe Brothers Catering

Spot Management Services Pte Ltd

ISS Facility Services Pte Ltd

TCB Sports Pte Ltd

SAS Foundation Board 2015-16 (Singapore) Ray Zage, Chair Peng Huat Ang Margrit Benton Wing Kwong Chan Clarice Chia Woodworth Anita Fam Devin Kimble, Treasurer Brian O’Connor Adrian Peh Astrid Salim ‘96 Jacqueline Seow Brent Smith Christopher Tan

SAS Foundation Board 2015-16 (USA) Rudy Muller, President Nick Haslett ‘03, Vice President Haywood Blakemore

Many SAS parents work hard to volunteer their time to the PTA and this year that volunteer work translated into the PTA’s ability to make a donation of S$200,000. The PTA raised those funds through uniform sales, the book fair, the

Shelley DeFord

International Fair and other community events. This year,

Erica Dewan ‘95

the PTA board donated those funds to the SAS Foundation

Bob Gross

and asked the foundation to steward the gift by continuing

Crystal Hayling

to grow and enhance the academic visitors-in-residence

Chip Kimball

program bringing talented authors, illustrators, dancers, and

Brent Mutsch

other subject matter experts to campus to further enrich

Deirdre Simon, Secretary Sean Wallace

student learning.

Morgan Frontczak PTA President

Section

7

THE SAS

STORY

The most eye-opening part of volunteering in the communications department has been realizing how much communicating there is to do at SAS. We have parents and students, faculty and staff, and then there’s alumni, donors, and prospective families— all of whom receive different information. As a parent I’ve always received eNews and emails relevant for our grade, but there is so much more. They are constantly creating articles, blog posts, newsletters, marketing materials, videos for Youtube, not to mention maintaining hundreds of pages on the website. And the list goes on! I’ve been amazed at the volume and variety of their output. But the quality too is notable.

Journeys, for example, is a polished school magazine by any standard and watching it come together through a full production cycle was impressive. It’s been a great learning opportunity for me.

Jodi Jonis, SAS parent

84

Annual Report 2015-16

ion

Sect

7

Telling

the SAS St ry To kick off our 60th anniversary, the communications and facilities teams unveiled a museum-grade heritage gallery that highlights the interwoven evolution of SAS and Singapore over the past 60 years.

We also celebrated the anniversary year by highlighting stories from faculty, alumni, and families in a 60 Years of Stories microsite and special print edition of Journeys alumni magazine.

It was a banner year for video storytelling as we launched three divisional videos, a schoolwide video, eight video profiles, a summer semester promotional video, and a philanthropy video. We developed our second annual SOAR campaign with Nikon Singapore ambassador Scott Woodward to visually highlight the interests and accomplishments of some of SASâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing students and faculty.

On the digital front, we launched an interactive campus map and photo gallery to enable prospective families that havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet made the trip to Singapore to get a feel for what SAS students experience each day.

And for our current families, we launched a password-protected parent portal that serves as a single location for everything families need on a day-to-day basis, while protecting our familiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; private information.

296,832

140

3,095

217,207 1,417 33

eNews emails opened 2014-15

Social media posts 2015-16

Blog posts

1,012

47,273

115,749

52,968

2,496,012 2,484,430

94,892 797 12,940 13,000

Facebook posts

Facebook status likes

YouTube views

Instagram likes

Website page Views

86

Annual Report 2015-16

ion

Sect

7

Sen or

Signoff

For 12 years, SAS has raised me. The friends I made nurtured my optimistic personality, the outstanding teachers and academic rigor powered my intellectual curiosity, and the extracurricular programs encouraged me to pursue my passions. I fell in love with service, embraced the arts through dance, and experienced the life of a journalist through the school newspaper, The Eye. These are all activities I know I will continue to pursue.

This fall I will be adopted into a different family as I begin my first semester at Harvard University. While its 800-seater lecture halls and world-renowned professors could intimidate me, I am going in with no fears. SAS has prepared me both academically and emotionally to take on new challenges.

I am eager to bring a little bit of Singapore to the US and to take those red brick pathways and unforgiving Boston winters with an Eagle spirit.

No matter where I am in the world, SAS will always be the place I call home.

Jeane Khang

Class of 2016

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40 WOODLANDS STREET 41 SINGAPORE 738547 (65) 6363 3403 Singapore American School CPE Registration Number: 196400340R Registration Period: 22 June 2011 to 21 June 2017 Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges