Saigon South International School

Saigon South International School (SSIS) is an international school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam offering an American standards based curriculum for grades EC-12. They offer both the IB diploma program and AP coursework. SSIS is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Profile

Saigon South International School (SSIS) was founded in 1997 by the Phu My Hung Corporation to accommodate an increasing need for American education for both local residents and expatriate families. Located in the Phu My Hung Urban Area, SSIS is two and a half miles south of the current city center - District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

SSIS enrolls over 850 students from over thirty-three countries. The professionally certified and experienced teachers are career educators. Most come from North America, Australia and the United Kingdom and as specialists in their subject area, over 70% hold advanced educational degrees. More than 65% have more than 12 years teaching experience. SSIS offers an American standards-based curriculum, augmented by the rigorous Advanced Placement Program (AP) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBD), in the high school.^[1]

In recent years students graduated from SSIS have continued their university education in leading schools in the United States such as Harvard University, Stanford University, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, and the University of California at Berkeley.^[2]

Mission statement

SSIS is a college preparatory school committed to the intellectual and personal development of each student in preparation for a purposeful life as a global citizen.^[3]

Core values

Saigon South International School’s core values play a vital role in each student’s daily life. Unlike a uniform which can be taken off at the end of the day, the core values are attributes which will remain with our students for the rest of their lives. They are the cornerstone of their educational experience at SSIS.

SSIS believes in and promotes:^[4]

• Academic Excellence
• Sense of Self
• Dedicated Service
• Balance in Life
• Respect for All

Facilities

Saigon South International School has a large, 6-hectare campus with three main buildings that will contains around 850 students in Early Childhood 3 (EC3) – Grade 12. The new purpose built high school building was completed in January 2011 and includes general classrooms, purpose built science labs, a library, a gymnasium, and changing/locker rooms .

The other two school buildings contain two libraries for elementary and middle, an auditorium, a double-sized gymnasium for 2 basketball courts, a swimming pool and a shared cafeteria. The outside playing fields have 3 football (soccer) fields, and separate play areas for the early childhood program and elementary students.^[5]

A 1:1 laptop program in the high school combined with a 1:1 free netbook program in the middle school ensure that SSIS students obtain 21st century skills.

Extra curricular activities

SSIS offers a range of programs and activities beyond the classroom.^[6] The major clubs and activities are:

• Student Council
• Athletics: basketball, volleyball, soccer, badminton, tennis, and swimming, where the students compete against other schools in the Mekong River International Schools Association (MRISA Sports Exchange) ^[7]
• Visual Arts, with projects for fundraising events, and an exhibition at the end of the school year ^[8]
• Music, with two performances per school year for Elementary, and taking part in the MRISA Cultural Exchange for Middle School and High School students^[9]
• Dance, with two dance teams, and regular performances throughout the school year ^[10]
• Fundraising initiatives ^[11]
• Operation Smile Club ^[12]
• HeartSaysFreeMove Club^[13]
• Global Issues Group ^[14]
• Minecraft ^[15]
• Many other such as ballet, badminton, soccer, basketball, art club, swim club, computer club, cooking, crafts, math games, board games, digital animation, newspaper, origami, sewing, chess, piano, martial arts and writing, offered by the staff and community members.^[16]

University Acceptance

• American University
• Birmingham City University
• Boston University
• Bournemouth University
• Brown University
• California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
• California State University, Long Beach
• California State University, San Marcos
• Chapman University
• College of William and Mary
• Colorado State University
• Columbia College (Illinois)
• DePaul University
• Dominican University of California
• Drexel University
• Emory University
• Enderun College
• Furman University
• George Mason University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Hampshire College
• Harvard University
• Indiana University Bloomington
• Johns Hopkins University
• Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
• LaSalle University
• LASALLE College of The Arts
• Lewis & Clark College
• Loyola Marymount University
• Macalester College
• Mahidol University
• Marist College
• Menlo College
• Monash University
• Mount Holyoke College
• New York University
• Northeastern University
• Notre Dame de Namur University
• The Ohio State University
• Ohio Wesleyan University
• Pace University
• Pacific University
• Parsons: The New School for Design
• Queen Mary, University of London
• Quinnipiac University
• RMIT University Vietnam
• Rutgers University
• Salve Regina University
• San Diego Mesa College
• Savannah College of Art and Design
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• School of Oriental and African Studies
• School of Visual Arts
• Seattle University
• Seoul National University
• Skidmore College
• St. John’s University
• Stanford University
• Syracuse University
• Swarthmore College
• Temple University
• Texas Tech University
• Tufts University
• University College London
• University of British Columbia
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego
• University of Central Florida
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Colorado, Boulder
• University of Connecticut
• University of Debrecen
• University of Denver
• University of East Anglia
• University of Exeter
• University of Houston
• University of Illinois, Chicago
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• The University of Iowa
• University of Manitoba
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of Missouri, Columbia
• University of Missouri, St. Louis
• University of Nevada, Reno
• University of Nottingham
• University of Oregon
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Rhode Island
• University of San Diego
• University of San Francisco
• University of Southampton
• University of Southern California
• University of Sussex
• University of Vermont
• University of Virginia
• University of Warwick
• University of Washington

^[17]

External links

• Saigon South International School website
• Power School Log on for Saigon South International School
• Saigon South International School eNews
• Saigon South International School Blog

References

Coordinates: 10°43′26″N 106°42′32″E / 10.7238°N 106.7090°E / 10.7238; 106.7090