“So, are you more of an American school or an international school?” is a question that I sometimes will get. And, invariably, my answer is “Yes.” It’s the both/and—the combination of both these parts of our identity—that makes us special as a school and offers such extraordinary learning experiences for our students. From our founding, our mission has been “To provide students an exemplary American education with an international perspective.”

These learning experiences are both academic and personal. They offer the chance to learn about the broader world inside and outside the classroom and equally important, the personal opportunity to make lifelong friends and connections with classmates who come from so many diverse parts of the world.

We continue to be committed to offering an outstanding American education and preparing our students to excel in US colleges and universities, which 80 percent of our graduates enroll in (with the remainder going to Canada, UK, and several other countries in Europe and around the world).

We have also worked hard to strengthen our connections to Singapore and the many learning opportunities our home country offers. Indeed, our current strategic plan SAS2027 emphasizes a key goal:

“Enrich our students’ international and cross-cultural perspectives by expanding opportunities to learn from the cultural and historical richness of Singapore and the region of Southeast Asia.”

Over the last several years, we have significantly increased the focus on Singapore and the region in our curriculum, introducing several new units across all three divisions. Likewise, we have sought to provide more opportunities for students to get out of the “bubble” our school can sometimes be and dive into the Singapore community.

We are excited to share with you in this issue of Journeys many of the connections our Eagles share with the broader Singapore community. I also want to share with you a number of examples that I have seen recently across all three divisions of our school:

Elementary School 

• Students explored past and present changemakers in Singapore and then visit the National Museum of Singapore to experience the interactive Singapore history timeline. 
• Students participated in a pen pal exchange with local students in Sengkang culminating in a shared experience where the local students came and spent the day learning and playing with their pen pals. 
• Classroom lessons on sustainability included both visits to the Waterways Watch Society and litter pickup around the banks of the Kallang River. 
• Kindergarten classes adopted the Adventist Rehabilitation Center (ARC) for their service learning project to play games, make crafts, and sing with patients who have physical disabilities caused by stroke or accidents.

Middle School 

• World language students interviewed local hawker owners and customers in Chinese to learn the history of hawker centers and how Singapore promotes cultural diversity through these gathering places. 
• Students traveled to Sungei Buloh to explore the biodiversity of the mangroves and learn more about how the island’s natural environment has impacted the development of local communities. Our SAS dragon dance club was invited by Club Rainbow SG to perform for a Chinese New Year charity event.  
• The keynote speaker for our eighth grade social justice- centered unit from local NGO It's Raining Raincoats (itsrainingraincoats.com) spoke with our students about the lives of migrant workers in Singapore.

High School 

• In AP English Language and Composition, students studied Singaporean print and digital advertisements, PSA campaigns, and speeches by Lee Kuan Yew to understand the cultural/historical context and rhetorical strategies utilized. Students also discussed the Singaporean concept of "racial harmony" and read essays from and talked to the author of the recent essay collection Brown Is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore. 
• The Vivace Service Club organized musical performances at the nearby Metta Home for persons with disabilities in the Woodlands to bring joy to the community through music. 
• Ninth grade humanities students focused on Singapore's role in cultural exchange through trade. They invited a local theater troupe, Nusantara Theatrics, to teach students acting skills during the Shakespeare unit, and visited the Kranji Memorial and the Ford Factory to learn more about the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II.

We look forward to continuing to provide students with more opportunities to explore local history and culture, create personal connections with Singaporean students, and serve in communities across Singapore. Regardless of where our students move after leaving SAS, our hope is that they will always carry a piece of Singapore with them. These connections differentiate our students and equip them with insights and experiences that make them valuable contributors in the communities they choose to join—or when they come back to Singapore!