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May 27, 2014

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SUIS celebrates 20th anniversary in style

Source: Shanghai Daily | May 27, 2014, Tuesday | Print Edition

SHANGHAI United International School is Shanghai’s leading private provider of education with over 19,000 students from kindergarten to Grade 12. This year it is recognizing its success with its 20th anniversary celebration. From modest beginnings it now not only encompasses dozens of schools across Shanghai but has also recently opened its first school out of Shanghai, its Wuxi (Jiangsu Province) campus catering for students from kindergarten to senior school.

The sheer size of the organization permits an impressive range of provision; just looking at the many campuses of the senior school section alone, SUIS gives families, both from China and abroad, the widest choice in Shanghai of both international and local curricula. This allows students the opportunity to select from the British curriculum (IGCSE) and IB Diploma program at the SUIS-Gubei campus, the American AP program at SUIS-Wan Yuan, the Canadian British Columbian program at SUIS-Jiao Ke, or the British program at SUIS-Pudong, as well as local curricula. In addition, families have a huge choice of courses for children of kindergarten age to Grade 5, with Fortune nursery and the SUIS-Hongqiao PYP program being just a couple of examples of excellence within the SUIS international primary schools division.

As if all that were not reason enough for celebration of its 20th anniversary, SUIS is also at the forefront of educational research in China. Modestly tucked away in the extensive SUIS-Hongqiao campus grounds is one of China’s leading educational research institutes with some of China’s top educational researchers who regularly hold conferences attracting both Chinese and international delegates. SUIS’ motto is “East meets West,” which emanates from this research center.

To get below the surface of Shanghai’s leading private education provider let’s look, for example, at the SUIS-Gubei campus (International Stream). Over the past few years its reputation has soared and, with it, student numbers. At the last count there were over 30 nationalities of students on the campus giving it a truly international flavor. All students learn both English and Chinese as part of its “East meets West” ethos. All lessons apart from Chinese and German are taught in English. The rigorous, broad and balanced academic program has at its pinnacle that toughest of exams for 18-year-olds, the IB Diploma. SUIS-Gubei students score well above the world average.

However, this is only the start of the story. The school clearly wants brilliant learners but insists too on a balance between academic achievement and community integration. Students are expected to join the sports teams, get involved with drama, play music and become prefects. This has resulted in SUIS-Gubei students winning the Shanghai-wide Battle of the Bands, going to Yale University for the “Champion of Champions” round of the World Scholars Cup debate, playing for not just the Shanghai Touch Rugby Team but even for the international squad. Then there is the school production which wowed audiences, the ski trip, the South Africa Environmental Project Trip. The list goes on and on but the message is clear: SUIS-Gubei students use their opportunities and develop into socially confident individuals who can make the jump to the next stage, world-class international universities. They truly are global citizens.

The international stream graduates have had offers from the best universities in the world from Cambridge in the UK, Boston in the US, Melbourne in Australia, Waseda in Japan and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The value of SUIS-Gubei, though, is not just getting students into great universities, but giving them the skills to survive and thrive.

All this does not happen by chance. A committed management team has the vision and the program, but it is the excellence of the teaching staff that allows students to succeed. With a dozen or so nationalities on the staff there is plenty of international experience to create that magical teamwork atmosphere.

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