On October 21 and 22, the Communications Task Force sub-committee of the Board of Directors hosted two Parent Town Meetings—one on the Puxi campus, and one at the Vizcaya Clubhouse to serve Pudong-area parents.

The goal of the Town Meetings, says Stephanie Kao, Chair of the Task Force, is to improve opportunities for two-way communication and provide more channels for the parents to provide feedback about issues of concern to them and the school.

In anticipation of the event, parents had been invited to submit questions by e-mail to Superintendent Harlan Lyso. On both evenings, after a brief opening welcome by David Liu, Board Chair, Lyso expressed gratitude for the high level of parent engagement in school life. “Although I have only been on campus for about two and a half months,” Lyso said, “I have been very impressed by the level of parent involvement.” He then responded to the questions submitted to him earlier, after which he invited the audience to ask follow-up questions. Topics  addressed included:

Length of School Year: SAS follows the U.S. public school convention of a 180-day instructional year, which includes early-release days.

Transportation Program:
SAS operates an extensive and complex bus service, using nearly 100 daily buses. Routes are planned each year to try to serve as many students as possible, as close to where they live as possible.

Faculty Hiring, Evaluation and Retention: Competition for the best teachers is fierce among the 4,000 international schools. SAS seeks and regularly obtains the best but needs to keep its compensation competitive.  SAS hires teachers for specific positions; they are not hired first and reassigned later. Faculty are evaluated yearly, and student evaluations are particularly valuable. Suggestions included doing surveys more frequently and earlier in the year, and considering a revised format.

Qualifications of Substitute: Teachers: As with full-time faculty, SAS seeks to hire the best. In Shanghai, it is sometimes difficult to find enough substitutes that are trained to work in advanced fields of study, such as IB Physics. The school does consider hiring credentialed overseas substitutes in the event of the long-term absence of a permanent teacher.

Faculty as Tutors: SAS observes a policy that faculty members may not tutor their own students for compensation. Faculty members are available to tutor students that are not their own and are considered an exceptional academic resource of the school for those students who may wish to take advantage of it.

Class Size:  The target is 18 students.  This year, some classes are larger because—following historical practice—extra students were enrolled to compensate for the expected summer withdrawals typical in international schools. These did not occur this year, despite weakness in the global economy. The Board is carefully considering the issue, especially in light of its effect on the budget, tuition and hiring needs. In comparison with other international schools in Shanghai, SAS has the lowest tuition and the lowest class size.

The IB Program: SAS maintains an open-access policy. Students wishing to take an IB course, in consultation with counselors, may do so.

Mall across from the Puxi Campus: A new mall including service apartments is being built opposite the campus. Expected completion date is two-and-a-half years from now. SAS is in consultation with the developer to learn about, and potentially to influence, planning decisions to minimize disruption of school life.

Technology Initiative: Parents are encouraged to contact Deputy Superintendent Andy Torris (andrew.torris@saschina.org) directly with any questions. Student laptop breakage has been minimal. The cost to parents of each laptop is the lowest the school could negotiate and compares very favorably with the price in the U.S. when the worldwide warranty and extensive SAS-provided software features are factored in. Using technology to support learning is a process; the school wants to be partner with families in making it successful for all. Information concerning extending the initiative to 6th Grade will be released in the next several weeks.

Student Character Development:
Although it is difficult to measure the growth of student character in comparison with other schools, SAS has always emphasized that true education is more than academic achievement. It includes learning about, and practicing, ethical behavior in all aspects of life, and students are given the opportunity to do this in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in a wide array of co-curricular activities. The goal at SAS is always to balance academic rigor with growth in all the other areas of human development.

Chinese Language Program: SAS is proud to offer perhaps the most extensive Chinese curriculum of any Asian international school, as measured by the number of students instructed and the number of language levels taught.

Emergency Contingency Planning: SAS has an extensive plan in place for continuing educational service in the event of a school closure owing to H1N1 or some other emergency. Communications systems are in place and have been tested. The school will work to inform parents that these procedures do exist and can be relied on.

SAS Governance: SAS is a parent-owned school that is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors. Six directors are elected by the parents; three are appointed by the Board. The Board is a policy-making body that delegates operational management to the Superintendent whom it hires. The Superintendent, in turn, hires and manages the school’s administrative team composed of a Deputy Superintendent, the six divisional Principals, and other central administrative officers representing such areas as business operations and advancement.

Facility Development: The SAS Board of Directors has empaneled a Strategic Planning Task Force to review, among other things, the school’s comprehensive facility needs over the next five years.
New Pudong Campus Road: Although the new road is now open to car traffic, a portion of it is not yet finished and local authorities will not open it to buses until the entire road is completed. It is impossible to know when that will be; SAS continues to be in frequent contact with the authorities, impressing them with the importance of opening that road to all traffic to speed travel time to the campus.

One School, Two Campuses: SAS is committed to operating parallel programs on its two campuses. In the past, differences between Pudong and Puxi arose because the Pudong campus was in a growth phase with a much smaller high school than the Puxi campus. That has changed; Pudong has now graduated two classes and is projecting a healthy high school enrollment of 550 for 2010-2011. The two programs are reaching parity across the board, but aligning academically and co-curricularly does not necessarily mean the two campuses will be identical. SAS is proud of the campus-specific characteristics that give a special feeling of uniqueness to the communities in each location.

At 8:30 p.m. on both evenings, the group broke up to meet with school principals to discuss questions and issues specifically related to the divisions.

The Superintendent will distribute by broadcast e-mail to parents a summary of the Town Meeting discussions. After two Board Forums on School Finances in November, the next Paernt Town Meetings are scheduled for spring.

Board Forum on School Finance

Puxi campus:
Novembver 9,  7 p.m.
Library Media Center

Pudong:
November 12, 7 p.m. 

CCS Multi-Function Room, Green Hills Housing Complex, Pudong.