Message from our Chairman

2019 marked the 300th anniversary of the death of St John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the De La Salle Brothers. SJI International commemorated the Tercentenary by recalling our Founder’s remarkable spirit and endeavour through a number of special events and programmes. Our Board of Governors and Executive Leadership Team travelled to France in September on a Lasallian Pilgrimage, walking in the footsteps of our Founder St John Baptist de La Salle. A special Tercentenary Mass was held for our High School community and Grades 5 and 6 students, followed by our Founder’s Day Ceremony, International Food Fair and Cultural Carnival, all of which involved and showcased the diversity, talent and spirit of our student community.

Among the many activities to commemorate the Tercentenary during the year, one that stood out for our community was when our students and staff gathered on our new upper field to form a dramatic, living symbol of our Lasallian identity in the shape of a huge Lasallian Star, with the ES students in green, and the HS students in white. The Lasallian Star is the official seal (“Signum Fidei”) of the De La Salle Brothers and is at the centre of the crest of SJI International. It was truly a sight to behold and showcased the cohesive identity of the SJI International community.

Fittingly to mark the Tercentenary, SJI International High School was awarded the Council of International Schools (CIS) Accreditation in 2019. The CIS Accreditation is an internationally-recognised benchmark of the best educational practices and systems.

We are now proudly one of 736 schools and 618 colleges and universities representing 116 countries across the world with CIS Accreditation, and one of only eight schools with this Accreditation in Singapore.

Our parents, donors and friends continue to be extraordinarily supportive of the school’s ethos and aims, and we are immensely grateful for their generosity. We celebrated our 3rd SINGALA fundraising gala this year, coming together as a community to raise more than $1.45 million to support our Scholarships Fund. It is because of such support from our community that has enabled SJI International to continue to offer one of the strongest scholarship programmes among international schools in Singapore. Our High School scholarships allow us to sustain a diverse mix of students in terms of nationalities and socio-cultural backgrounds. We believe that such diversity provides a vibrant and enriching environment for all students in the school. In line with this mission, we have expanded our scholarships programme in 2019 to include the new sixyear Lasallian Scholarship. The Lasallian Scholarship will support up to four students from any of the Lasallian primary schools in Singapore to be admitted to SJI International at Grade 7 each year. Students selected for this new Scholarship Programme will begin their studies in 2020.

Our culture of service continues to be strengthened, creating opportunities for personal development and enriching learning, and furthers our mission for students to become ‘people of integrity, people for

others’. Once again this year, our High School students raised significant support through their service activities with efforts like Hair for Hope & Beautiful Lengths raised $167,457 and the Charity Arts Night raised $30,000, Our Elementary School students raised $28,560 through their Lapathon. SJI International is proud to have an empathetic and caring school community that willingly chooses to empower and uplift others.

During this year’s annual summer alumni reunion we were also fortunate to be able to welcome our 10th cohort of students to the alumni community. Cohorts from 2009-2018 were present. at the dinner In addition to celebrating fond memories of their time as students in SJI Internartional, our new alumni networking portal was launched alongside the 10th-anniversary issue of Infinitas alumni magazine.

2019 was truly an amazing year of celebration, accomplishment and service for SJI International and our Lasallian community. It was also a time of reflection, as we recalled and retraced the work of our Founder. The Lasallian Mission was launched more than 300 years ago and reached the shores of Singapore almost 170 years ago. SJI International turned

12 in 2019. We have a rich heritage of service to our community and of our community in turn supporting our Lasallian Mission in education. We have much to look forward to as we seek to build on the foundations laid down by our founding Lasallian pioneers. On behalf of the Board of Governors and Management of SJI International, I wish to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all staff, parents, donors and volunteers for your unflagging dedication and support. Thank you.

SJI International is proud to have an empathetic and caring school community that willingly chooses to empower and uplift others.

Roy Quek

Chairman, Board of Governors