Singapore American School

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The Singapore American School (SAS) is a private international school in Singapore. Established in 1956, the school offers an American-based curriculum from preschool through to Grade 12 for approximately 3,700 expatriate students, making it the largest international school in the world. Approximately 60% of the students at SAS are United States citizens, with the rest comprising around 40 different nationalities. (Very few Singaporean students attend the school as Singapore government regulations prevent most local students from attending international schools within the country.)

The school's current 37 acre (150,000 m²) campus in the Woodlands area of Singapore was opened in 1996. The campus has five distinct divisions – the Early Childhood Center (preschool), Primary School (Kindergarten-Grade 2), the Intermediate School (Grades 3-5), the Middle School (Grades 6-8), and the High School (Grades 9-12). Each division has its own classrooms, library, offices and support facilities. Facilities at the school's campus include a 1000-seat stadium, an 800-seat auditorium, two theatrettes, three cafeterias, five gymnasiums, three swimming pools, six tennis courts, and several sports fields. Recently the SAS campus has been renovated to increase the capacity of the school. The new additions include a 4-storey high school and early childhood center, and space for hundreds of new students.

SAS has the largest number of high school students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses of any international school in the world. This is due in part to the fact that SAS does not offer an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Switching to the curriculum has been considered in the past, but the school's administration has decided against doing so. (SAS augments most of its AP courses significantly with material not on the AP exams.)

SAS is part of the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools (IASAS). It competes regularly with other international schools in the region in both academic and sports events. The school has a strong athletic tradition. Recently SAS has dominated in the sports tournaments it participates in. In 2004, the school won gold in 11 out of 18 tournaments. The school also has one of the most professional student newspapers of the IASAS schools. The Eye has won the Columbia Gold Crown award multiple times, as well as other rewards from the National Scholastic Press Association. SAS is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in the United States.

In April of 2006, more than 300 alumni joined faculty, parents and current students in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the school.

[edit] Notable alumni

George Fitch (Class of 1965): Assisted in development of the Jamaican Bobsled Team. Mayor of Warrenton, Virginia, and former candidate for Governor of Virginia.

Inbal Megiddo (Class of 1994): An elite cellist from Israel. Has received impressive reviews, and has held performances at numerous places of prestige, including Carnegie Hall.

Siddharth Mohandas: Former associate editor at Foreign Affairs magazine, and a former intern speechwriter for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Has written for several publications, including Newsweek, the Christian Science Monitor, and The American Prospect. Attended the Singapore American School from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Kendra Williams: First American female pilot in combat, on December 16, 1998. She is a lieutenant in the Navy.

Michael Fay (did not graduate): Michael Fay was a twelfth grade student at the Singapore American School in 1993, when the Singapore police came to the school one morning to arrest him following a spree of vandalism on expensive private cars. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to four months jail and caning. The case attracted considerable international media attention relating to the appropriateness of caning as a judicial punishment in Singapore.