SAS Foundation Impact Report 2015-16

SAS FOUNDATION

Impact Report SAS Office of Advancement 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 +65 6360 63​3 4 • sasfoundation@sas.edu.sg • sas.edu.sg/giving

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

July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 2.5 % Service learning & community service

Thank you

5.5 % Personalized learning Professional 2.8% development

for your investment in Singapore American School

Thanks to your generosity, collective gifts of nearly SGD $2 million supported SAS students in 2015-16.

This report highlights just a few of the many ways that your generous gifts are enhancing the education that every student receives at Singapore American School. Thank you for your generosity and support.

3.4%

Speaker series, performing arts & other

for teachers Academic and experiential learning

4%

HS auditorium (Constellation acoustic system)

32.9%

ES, MS, HS activities and clubs

8.5% Rainforest

17.7%

Support services

22.7%

Schoolwide Instructional assistant training As Singapore American School adopts pedagogies such as formative assessments and inquiry-based learning, it is important that these teaching methods are understood and supported by all staff. Through a generous gift to the SAS Foundation, our instructional assistants are offered professional development that supports their learning of key initiatives so they can ultimately support our student learning outcomes.

Other notable SAS Foundation-funded schoolwide initiatives in 2015-16 were:

•

Rainforest improvements, including completion of a land survey, installation of an irrigation system, construction of a temporary greenhouse and outdoor classroom, and installation of boardwalk and signage

SpeakerSeries@SAS Generous gifts to the SAS Foundation provide important funding annually for the SpeakerSeries@SAS. Through this speaker series, Singapore American School hosts experts who address important and timely topics on parenting, child development, and family life. In 2015-16, SpeakerSeries@SAS brought John and Rosemary McKinnon, Roby Marcou, Devorah Heitner, and John Medina to speak to parent audiences about improving cognitive functioning, rules for better brain performance, ideas for managing stress, creating appropriate boundaries with children, and more.

Consultants on a variety of special topics such as 1. Steve Barrett from the Wildwood School for advisory programs in the middle and high school 2. Fiona Zinn, a Reggio Emilia consultant to the early learning center 3. Greg Duncan, examining grade 6-12 world languages

•

Support services, which provides students with the academic, behavioral, and emotional support to reach their potential from pre-school to grade twelve. Donor support allows SAS to better respond to a wider range of student learning needs without relying on additional tuition increases.

early learning center and Elementary

School

Lunch Bunch expansion Lunch Bunch hours were extended in 2015-16 due to the generosity of donors to the SAS Foundation. Elementary students love working on projects in the Lunch Bunch room during lunch recess. Last year, after Lunch Bunch hours were temporarily extended to include morning recess during the 2015 haze period, students petitioned Mr. Hoss asking for the change to be made permanent. Because the maker concepts of the Lunch Bunch fit well into our pursuit of project-based learning, Mr. Hoss secured support from the SAS Foundation to turn our students’ request into a reality. In 2016-17, thanks to additional funding from the foundation, our lower elementary school students in grades K-2 will begin to experience their own Lunch Bunch room for the first time.

Other notable SAS Foundation-funded initiatives in elementary school in 2015-16 were: • •

Kindermusik program in the early learning center Service learning field trips to Christalite Methodist

• •

Launch of The Loft The Loft consists of innovative learning centers called creation stations that focus on engineering, coding, building, art, and filmmaking. Teachers bring their students to the The Loft to enhance classroom learning and explore stations equipped with everything from programmable robots to Makey Makeys to building materials. This space fosters opportunities for creativity, innovation, collaboration, and communication for students in grades K-5.

Home, Adventist Rehabilitation Centre, Innova Primary School and Fuchun Primary School Visiting classical and jazz musicians in music classrooms to expose instruments and different genres to young students Flooring for the elementary playground

• • • • •

Lunar New Year celebration performances Play Day Second grade’s Asia Fest Second grade Service Superstars expenses Marathon Club t-shirts

Middle

School

Growing participation in intramural leagues In 2015-16, gifts to the SAS Foundation allowed middle school activities to continue to grow, providing resources for the new basketball, soccer, and volleyball intramural leagues. With these funds, we were able to purchase equipment suited to the middle school age group developmental stage with lighter volleyballs and smaller-sized soccer goal posts that help bring the sporting experience to a wider audience. This led to greater student participation.

Other notable SAS Foundation-funded initiatives in middle school in 2015-16 were:

•

Robotics Club The middle school robotics club received a substantial boost to their inventory, with six replacement kits and various other robotics components purchased.

Thanks to the support of the donor community, we are able to keep up with advancing technology and keep our robotics club current and robust.

Expanded offerings for students in the library’s maker studio with materials and textile stations, 3D modeling equipment, and materials to build and play wooden instruments

Backyard Games In 2015-16, the middle school introduced their first Backyard Games mini-season funded by gifts to the foundation. This was a trial during the last four weeks of school and consisted of a menu of after-school activities offered free-of-charge by numerous faculty to keep our students active and engaged until the end of the year.

• •

The middle school Music Festival Award-winning National History Day participation in Jakarta and Washington DC

HIgh

School Executive Service Council High school students organize over 60 service clubs that engage students in meaningful and personally relevant service activities while supporting our local and global communities. For many years, these clubs had to devote time to fundraising that they could have spent directly serving the community. With generous support from donors to the SAS Foundation, the Executive Service Council made individual grants to clubs that applied for assistance, ensuring the students’ time was directly utilized to impact the needs that their clubs supported. This created a significant trickle-down effect that encouraged our students to become leaders in finding solutions to challenging global issues.

Other notable SAS Foundation-funded initiatives in high school in 2015-16 were: • •

The Catalyst program Annual registration and dues for Athletic Conference of Singapore International Schools

• • • •

Entrepreneur-In-Residence In 2015-16, gifts to the SAS Foundation supported the creation of the entrepreneur-in-residence program in the Khoo Teck Puat Library’s Center of Innovation. This local entrepreneur helps students in our Catalyst program develop projects, connects students to potential mentors, and provides constructive feedback during students’ project development.

Eagle Council expenses IASAS travel polo shirts Soccer, tennis, and volleyball uniforms and equipment The high school Music Festival

High school advisory program Research has shown that educational outcomes are enhanced when students feel emotionally and socially secure. When students at any age feel known and supported by the adults in their schooling, their confidence and academic success benefit. Strong grades in high school are a positive, but the greater feelings of satisfaction with life and careers after college are the most significant outcome of our approach. In 2015-16, gifts to the SAS Foundation supported professional development for our high school faculty to develop capacity and create the structures to implement the high school advisory program.

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Registration and travel fees for students and sponsors participating in Harvard Model Congress, Model United Nations in Korea, Asian Science Quiz Tournament, TEDx, Global Issues Network, robotics club competitions, and the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence quiz bowl