SAS+History

= The History of the Shanghai American School =


 * Shanghai American School** (SAS) is an independent, non-profit, coeducational day school sponsored by the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai. It is owned and managed by the SAS Association of Parents. Every parent of a child enrolled in the school is automatically a member of the association. Staunchly guarding its tradition of academic and co-curricular excellence over the years, SAS has a long history in China's largest metropolis.

Founded in 1912, the school attracted over 500 students in grades K-12 by the 1920s. Students came from missionary, diplomatic and expatriate business families. SAS closed in 1949. The school reopened in 1980 on the grounds of the U.S. Consulate General. A growing foreign community and expanding foreign business activity drew increased enrollment, prompting a move in 1989 to the campus of the Shanghai Number 3 Girls' Middle School. When that campus became too small for the school's size, SAS moved to two new locations -- one in suburban Zhudi, in Puxi (the west side of Shanghai), and the other on the east, or Pudong, side of the Huangpu River. Significant student growth and expandng program offerings necessitated this expansion of facilities. From 1980 until 1992, the school offered self-contained classes through grade 8. Beginning with the 1992-93 school year, a middle school was established for grades 6-8. In 1993-94, a 9th grade was added. At this time, the Associated Student Body became active and the first SAS dance since 1949 was held. Beginning with the 1994-95 school year, grades 10, 11 and 12 were added to enable SAS to provide a complete Pre-K through 12th grade educational program. The school grew from approximately 20 students when it reopened in 1980 to about 3000 for the 2010-2011 academic year.

SAS is the largest school for the expatriate community in Shanghai and the largest international school in China. SAS students come from more than 40 countries. The more than 342 SAS teachers come from 16 countries. On both the Pudong and the Puxi campuses, SAS has fine new facilities specifically built to support a comprehensive and carefully coordinated curriculum. Classrooms, science labs, facilities for drama, art and music, gymnasiums and sports fields are the most developed in all of China -- and comparable to the best any international school anywhere has to offer.

The school takes special pride in its extensive technology resources and the way they are used to support and enhance student learning. There are multimedia, internet-connected, computer labs and hundreds of stand-alone computers to serve students. The Pudong campus moved into new facilities in 1998 and the Puxi campus completed the move to its new campus at the start of the 2000-2001 academic year. Since then, facilities on both campuses have been expanded and improved. The scope of academic program has kept pace with added enrollment in both scope and enhanced sophistication. High school students can choose an International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma program and/or Advanced Placement (AP) courses to supplement a top-caliber U.S. high school course of study.

SAS is proud of its unique history -- and of its active alumni who were students at SAS up to 1949. A regular newsletter, "SASA News," is published quarterly (and posted to the SASA-Alumni page of this website). The group holds a triennial reunion with an extensive program in the United States; smaller gatherings take place annually in April at the time of the Alumni Lecture series on both SAS campuses, organized by alumni and open to the students and parents, teachers and staff, of the school.

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