Type Private Grades Pre-K-12 Mascot Sharks | Established 2001 Phone +86 21 2033 2588 Founded 2001 | |
Motto 品格第一 · 追求卓越 · 胸怀世界 · 快乐成长
(Honor · Excellence · Community · Joy) Principal Kelley Ridings (English Track) Principal Yanding Zheng (Chinese Track) Address 169 Qingtong Rd, Pudong Xinqu, Shanghai Shi, China, 201203 Similar Concordia Internatio School S, Shanghai Pinghe Bilingual, 上海德威英国国际学校, Yew Chung Internatio, 协和双语学校 | ||
The SMIC Private School (Chinese: 中芯学校) is a company-run K-12 school located in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park of Pudong, Shanghai, China. The school was founded by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) in 2001 and by 2009 had over 1,450 students. 2016 marked its 15th anniversary.
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History
The School's initial purpose was to provide low-cost private education for SMIC employees' children in close proximity to the SMIC Living Quarters and company sites, but has opened to the public since 2004. The School offers lower-priced tuition than others in Shanghai while still maintaining a quality international school education. Graduates have been accepted into many of the top national universities and colleges in America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and more. The school had a finalist, two semi-finalists, and several commended scholars in the National Merit Scholarship Program.
The School provides two academic tracks: an English track that uses an American curriculum with a Chinese requirement and a Chinese track that is based on the local academic curriculum but with strong English emphasis. The SMIC Private School is accredited by the Pudong Board of Education and was awarded as an "Excellent Private Elementary School and Middle/High School in China" in December 2009.
Description
The school grew rapidly since its founding; the school had 75 students in the 1st year, and almost 700 students in its 4th year. The school had its first English track graduating class of 7 in 2006. In 2009, the school had over 1800 students from 22 different countries. Students come from all over the world, including various parts of China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, England, the United States, France, Canada, and Italy, with a majority of the students from the U.S., Taiwan and South Korea.The school is authorized and approved by The U.S. College Board as an official SAT and AP testing center.
SMIC's newspaper, the Xin Lang Scholar, received first place for Best Front Page and Second Place Overall award from the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) during the 2004-2005 school year, and received First Place Overall with Special Merit during the 2009-2010 school year.
Facilities
The school is housed on a campus in Pudong New Area, on the east side of Shanghai. Academic facilities include: 2 libraries, 5 computer labs, an observatory, two auditoriums, and specialty classrooms for dance, music, and studio art. Athletic facilities include an indoor lap pool and recreation center, a gymnasium, tennis courts, all-weather basketball courts, and a 400-meter track. These include:
Academics
The school has three divisions: preschool and kindergarten, elementary (grades 1-5), and middle (grades 6-8) & high school (grades 9-12). The elementary and middle/high school divisions offer English and Chinese tracks.
The middle and high school English tracks use Common Core and the AERO curriculum, which fulfills entrance requirements for United States colleges and universities. Combined enrollment with Chinese track students is offered for Chinese language classes, select elective courses, and sports teams. Students from both English and Chinese tracks come together rarely for weekly and school-wide events.
The school offers accelerated/honors and Advanced Placement in English, Mathematics, Science, History, and Chinese language. Advanced Placement courses include Psychology, Calculus AB/BC, Statistics, English Literature, English Language and Composition, Spanish, French, U.S. History, Comparative Government, Computer Science A, Chinese, Biology, Physics I, Physics II, Economics, Studio Art and Chemistry. Students may not enroll in the AP program until their junior year with the exception of AP Chinese, AP Computer Science (sophomore year), and AP Biology (sophomore year). Students in AP classes are expected to take the AP exam in May.
Students must complete 100 hours of community service to fulfill graduation requirements. Past opportunities have included volunteering at local Shanghai orphanages as well as coordinating a charity concert. Several school clubs, such as Community Service Club, offer community service hours for students who are members and participate in events. Some students volunteer as teachers' assistants during the English summer camps.
Awards and recognition
Co-curricular activities
The School offers a variety of co-curricular activities for students. Activities include Student Council, Model United Nations, Environmental Club, Korean Culture Club, Community Service Club, Drama Club, Movie Industry Club, Cookies for Kenya, Creative Writing Club, Photoshop Club, and Debate Club.
Xin Lang Scholar
The School has a monthly English language student newspaper, Xin Lang Scholar. The newspaper received two awards from the American Scholastic Press Association in 2005, and was awarded First Place Overall with Special Merit during the 2009-2010 school year.
Art Charity Program
The School started its annual Art Charity Program in 2004. In 2008, through a partnership of SMIC Private School students and SMIC employees, the School donated 88,000 RMB to help sick and needy children in its 5th annual Art Charity Program through the collection of more than 1,600 pieces of art.
Debate Club
The School's Debate Club participates in several debates, within SMIC and with other schools.
Model United Nations
The SMIC School Model United Nations hosted its first SMICMUN Conference in 2014, and members attend a few conferences in other schools every year.
Athletics
The SMIC School is a member school of both SISAC and CISSA Athletic conferences. The SISAC conference is a competitive league primarily for high school students, while CISSA is participation based, non-competitive league primarily for students in grades 6 through 8. The SMIC Sharks are consistently one of the top performing schools in SISAC. Students from SMIC Private School participate in a variety of sports including volleyball, basketball, soccer, cross country, track and field, badminton, swimming, and table tennis.
Sister campus
The school has one sister campus in Beijing.
Beijing campus
SMIC Private School in Beijing was established in September 2005. The Beijing school is a Pre-K to Grade 8 school, currently with a kindergarten and an elementary division up to Grades 8, offering two academic tracks. There were about 300 students in kindergarten, and 550 students in the elementary and middle school.
The school has a diverse student body and a small student-teacher ratio which allows for a more creative and personable learning environment. The curriculum of each track stress each student's holistic development and also emphasizes the importance of morals and integrity in education.