Who Are Our Students?
Singapore American School was established in 1956 to provide an educational option for Singapore’s American community and for other families wanting an American-style education for their children.
Student Numbers and Nationalities
In its first year, the school’s 98 students included 57 American children and 41 children from other nations. Since then, the school has grown to over 4,100 students, and the proportion of American students has fluctuated between 50% and 75%. This year, our student body is 53% American and 47% from other nations, and our students hold 64 unique passports (including second passports), with the largest groups shown below. Our school’s history and policies reinforce our commitment to maintaining a diverse student population with a strong American element. The relevant school board policy states that the school “will seek to maintain a student body comprising American and non-American students so as to provide strong American character as well as international diversity.”
What brings SAS families to Singapore and how long do they stay?
Most SAS students are living in Singapore because of a parent’s job, with the two most common employment sectors reported by parents this year being finance and information, communication, and technology. Other sectors employing significant numbers of SAS parents include manufacturing; professional services; government (including the US embassy and navy); education; oil, gas, and energy; trade; consumer goods; and higher education. The average tenure of all currently enrolled students stands at 4.5 years, while the average tenure of students who left SAS in June 2023 was 5.2 years. This average included our class of 2023 graduating seniors.
How many old friends will graduate with my child?
Children who enter SAS in the younger grades will see many friends move away over the years, but some will remain right through to graduation day. This year, out of our senior class of 303 students, 50% joined SAS in the elementary school grades and another 20% joined during middle school. Of course, the later a student enters SAS, the more classmates they will have who have been here the same amount of time or longer. And there is a positive aspect to our student body’s fluidity: many SAS students find that they become skilled at making new friends and more open, flexible and resilient as they go through life.
Where do SAS students live?
SAS families can be found all over the island, but the largest concentration of SAS families is found in the area bounded by three major highways—the PIE, CTE, and AYE—and Clementi Road. This part of the island includes neighborhoods near roads such as Bukit Timah, Dunearn, Newton, Stevens, Orchard, Tanglin, Grange, Holland, and River Valley, as well as near the American Club. The Woodlands neighborhood is also popular with SAS families, accounting for around 550 students, or 13% of enrollment. Other areas with notable concentrations of SAS families include Sembawang, Upper Bukit Timah, Yio Chu Kang, Ang Mo Kio, East Coast Parkway, and Sentosa.
2023–24 Distribution of SAS families in Singapore
Each blue dot indicates a house, condo, or apartment building housing at least one SAS student. The red dot indicates Singapore American School.
Further Reading