Suzhou Singapore International School

Mission Statement

Suzhou Singapore International School (SSIS) aims to provide a high standard of international education to the children of expatriate families.
The staff, students and parents of Suzhou Singapore International School work in partnership to create a learning environment that encourages and enables students to be self-motivated, lifelong learners, who value other cultures and are responsible, meaningful participants in the international community.

Introduction

SSIS opened its doors in 1996, to meet the educational needs of expatriates in Suzhou Industrial Park, as well as greater Suzhou. From an initial student body of 27 students, the school has grown to 1,300 students, for the 2009/2010 school year. In addition to increasing its number of students, SSIS also grew in terms of its facilities; in September 2005, the school moved from its humble beginnings to take possession of a purpose built world-class facility, constructed on a 15-hectare campus. The current campus features state-of-the-art facilities for teaching, athletics, performing and visual arts. SSIS has plans to implement a “Phase Two” to plan for expected growth in the coming years.
While not initially adopting the IB model, the school made a transition, over a number of years, to becoming an IB World School, offering the PYP, MYP and DP programs. In August 2007, in recognition of the needs of some of its students, the school also implemented a German Department, currently offering the German National Curriculum, in the Elementary School, while offering students in the Secondary the chance to earn their DP in German. Also, the school has launched a four-year “North American” style High School Diploma, to ensure that SSIS students now have two parallel programs from grades 9 through 12. 
SSIS, as of August 2009, is structured into 3 school divisions: Elementary School, Middle School, and High School.