SAS Foundation Impact Report 2016-17

Impact Report SAS Office of Advancement 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore + 6 5 6 3 6 0 6 3 ​3 4 • s a s f o u n d a t i o n @ s a s . e d u . s g • s a s . e d u . s g / g i v i n g

T h e I m p a c t o f Yo u r G i v i n g

July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017 Thank you for making a gift to Singapore American School.

You have made a difference.

The SAS Foundation is grateful to our donor community who contributed nearly S$4 million in gifts between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016 to support programs and projects in the 201617 school year. As you will read in this report, philanthropy funds day-to-day “extras” as well as strategic, big picture opportunities. Because of this, philanthropy is vitally important to SAS and allows us to strengthen our position as a world leader in international education. Thank you, again, for your generosity.

PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Personalized learning tailors learning to each student’s strengths, needs, and interests. As personalization has implications for classroom design, instructional methods, and assessment, the

financial support provided by the SAS Foundation has been and will continue to be integral to its implementation.

inquiry-based learning by invoking curiosity and helping our students achieve their desired student learning outcomes.

Middle School: TRi Time

Elementary School: Inquiry-Based Learning

With the support from the SAS Foundation, second grade teachers attended a two-day interactive workshop conducted by internationally renowned educator, Kath Murdoch. In addition, funds from the SAS Foundation also allowed us to purchase materials such as cardboard, cutting equipment, coding kits, furniture, snap circuits, and more for the The Loft and our grade level makerspaces. These materials support

SUPPORT SERVICES

Gifts to the SAS Foundation funded the four-week middle school TRi Time pilot program that gave students space to personalize their learning by engaging in work intriguing to them. Students explored a wide variety of driving questions, from “How can I build my own cello?” to “How can I invest wisely in the stock market?” As a result, SAS students grew as inquirers.

Students were not the only ones to grow from their TRi Time efforts; teachers grew in many ways as well. The SAS Foundation supported the teachers’ professional development to help them guide and mentor their students. SAS Foundation gifts also supported the creation of the TRi Time toolkit that served as a resource for our teachers.

High School: Catalyst, Makerspace and Quest

Gifts to the SAS Foundation supported the continued development and expansion of the Catalyst course. The SAS Foundation’s support funded additional mentoring resources as well as the creation of the SAS Impact Fellowship, whereby past Catalyst students support and mentor current students. Additionally, the SAS Foundation provides funding to help cover project-related expenses that exceed a certain level.

In our high school makerspace, philanthropy supported new work areas, a variety of student-directed maker projects, purchases of emerging technologies, and additional tools and supplies for student projects. Through philanthropy, the makerspace upgraded its 3D printing technology and added a fully 3D immersive “Tilt Paint Brush” studio through the purchase of an HTC Vive. Also added in 2016-17 were an Ultimaker 2+ printer to print 3D geometry models and a CO2 gas laser engraver.

Some student projects that benefited from these investments include a life-size flight simulator, 3D printed models of anything students can imagine, and laser cut components for the robotics team.

The SAS Foundation also supported start up costs associated with the launch of the Quest program in 2016-17. Funds were used for equipment, supplies, off-campus trips, guest speakers, and more.

The SAS Foundation has consistently backed support services at Singapore American School. As personalized learning becomes a key component of our curriculum, support services play an increasingly important role as we work to meet students where they are in their learning.

In the middle school, SAS Foundation gifts allowed us to purchase and provide training for teachers with a literacy intervention curriculum. Teachers are able to provide their students with targeted intervention support and we have seen significant growth in some of our most struggling readers.

SAS Foundation funding sent more than 50 teachers across three divisions to a Response to Intervention (RtI) conference. As a result of this learning, elementary school teachers are using a universal screening tool that allows teachers to more effectively identify areas of concern, target their instruction, and monitor progress.

In the high school, teachers have adopted resources that support student learning and help students become their own best advocates. Students in our reading lab see multiple years of growth in one year due to targeted instruction. In our learning support classes, students set goals, monitor their progress, and identify the support they need to meet those goals.

Elementary School and Early Learning Center

Makerspaces and Creation Stations Through SAS Foundation gifts, dedicated makerspaces became fully functional with the purchase of inquiryfocused items that are engaging for students. With additional funding

from the foundation, the elementary school was able to add green screens for film making, engineering and building supply tools, and coding materials. Together with The Loft’s creation stations, which have also received significant funding from SAS Foundation gifts, all elementary students now have regular access to a variety of makerspaces where you can find students sewing, designing furniture from cardboard, coding, creating snap circuits, and doing many other designrelated projects.

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Other notable SAS Foundation-funded initiatives in elementary school in 201617 were: • Professional development within the area of inquiry-based learning for our teachers and a special program designed for our instructional assistants

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Retractable awning for a gardening space where second graders study plant and animal life-cycles Kindermusik program in the early learning center Play Day expenses including additional equipment, supplies and popsicles for every student Second grade AsiaFest celebration expenses including performances and supplies T-shirts for Marathon Club and water bottles for the basketball shootout Lunar New Year’s celebration performances On-campus performance by Mexican musicians Perlas Y Diamantes

Middle School add touch interaction to the teacher’s projected screen, allowing for easy overwriting, annotation, and manipulation of on-screen resources.

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• • Interactive Screens for Middle School Math Teaching math in our technologyrich curriculum requires new tools for collaborative and interactive instruction.

Generous gifts to the SAS Foundation allowed for the purchase of three 70inch interactive screens that travel to classrooms on carts. These screens

• • Other notable SAS Foundation-funded initiatives in middle school in 2016-17 were:

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Guest choreographers, knee pads, and costumes for the spring dance show involving nearly 170 middle school dancers and 40 high school choreographers Construction and installation of a ga-ga court that enhances our ropes course Training of middle school staff to offer debate as an after school activity Free after-school activities, known as Backyard Games, during the month of May Lego Robotics equipment and entry fee into a local robotics competition Junior Model United Nations registration fees for three conferences National History Day expenses related to shipping projects abroad

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and travel expenses for students and advisors Board games in homebases to promote positive relationships, teamwork, and social-emotional learning New pitching mound to allow us to offer middle school softball and baseball in the future

High School noble programs run by our high school service community. These grants keep our students focused on direct service instead of frequent fundraisers and give our students opportunities to be leaders in serving others.

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Executive Service Council With generous support from the SAS Foundation, the Executive Service Council made grants to service clubs that in turn supported the delivery of books to children in India, service trips to Vietnam, a conference for students in our Global Issues Network, and many other

Other Notable Schoolwide Programs and Projects

Other notable SAS Foundation-funded initiatives in high school in 2016-17 were:

SpeakerSeries@SAS Generous gifts to the SAS Foundation provide funding for the SpeakerSeries. In 2016-17,

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International Schools (ACSIS) annual dues which allowed SAS to send 30 teams for local competitive matches in a variety of sports and involved nearly 450 students Officials for IASAS exchanges Bus expenses for service clubs

Rainforest Improvements In 2016-17, restoration of our campus rainforest continued with the support of donors to

the SAS Foundation. Nursery benches and an automatic watering system were installed to keep saplings growing to transplant size. These additions in 2016-17 enhance the outdoor classroom that was completed in April 2016 and our students are proud to report that as of April 2017, through their weekly work in the rainforest, 35 trees have been transplanted to their forever home in our forest.

Registration costs for an additional Model United Nations conference to expand our program for younger high school students Headset microphones for offsite SAS Singers performances TedxYouth@SAS expenses related to planning and executing the event Equipment and uniforms for competitive and club sports Supplies, materials, and transportation costs for advisory and house-related activities for Welcome Back Day and Eagle Day, spirit days at which advisory cohorts participate in a range of activities to strengthen community ties among their advisory peers Athletic Conference of Singapore

we hosted Jeff Devens, Sonny Liew, Roby Marcou, Maureen Neihart, and Tan Lai Yong to speak to parent audiences about parenting tips, social and emotional development, transition to high school, community work, supporting reading comprehension, and more.