An Overview of High School Academic Information

        SSBS high school is dedicated to creating a unique education program for Chinese students through a balanced integration of the most advanced Chinese and international educational practices. This results in a social and cultural diversity that enriches our school community and offers our students opportunities as we prepare them to become global citizens with a high national pride in the modern world.

 

Unique Chinese and Western Educational Curriculum System

        Integrating the standards of the Shanghai Bureau of Education with years of experience in international curriculum development and international mainstream curriculum models, SSBS high school has established challenging curricula. This curriculum reflects the strengths of both Chinese and Western educational models so as to ensure the link between high school curricula and that of top international universities. These include China-US integrated courses, AP courses, Duke University transition courses, and student activities. SSBS has already achieved the AP course qualification from the American College Board.

 

Flexible Textbook Usage + Individual Course Selection

        In terms of textbook usage, SSBS uses state-compiled textbooks for Chinese, History, Geography and Politics and textbooks used by mainstream American schools for other courses. During the three-year high school study, students can select their courses independently according to their interests, ability, and future career goals.

 

Small and Tiered Classes + All-English Teaching for Main Courses

        SSBS adopts the organization method of small and tiered classes and teaches students in accordance with different courses and levels. Apart from four Chinese courses, other courses use English as the primary language of instruction. For main courses, SSBS ensures no less than 80% of classes taught in English at the beginning of the semester. As students’ English proficiency improves, SSBS will gradually implement all-English teaching.

 

First-class Management Team + Strong Faculty

        SSBS high school upholds a first-class management team and strong faculty members with expertise in teaching, student growth, and college application guidance. At the same time, through optimizing the faculty team and exploring outbound exchange, SSBS will further improve its strength and international competitiveness. 

 

 

High School Curriculum Overview

        The curriculum, consisting of academic courses and developing mastery, aims to broaden students’ educational experience and challenge them to develop their own philosophy and morality. Comprehensive evaluation is developed to measure the extent to which students have mastered knowledge understandings and application skills in academic courses, and achieved personal development in extra-curricular activities. 

 

Academic Courses

        Within academic courses, SSBS offers international-style elective courses (95%) and local high school compulsory courses (5%) to its students, the majority of whom come from local backgrounds.

        The international-style elective courses are made up of six main subject groups (Experimental Science, Humanities, Mathematics, Foreign Language, Chinese, Arts and PE). There are different courses within each subject field to allow for flexibility of interest. Furthermore, each of the courses is stratified into different difficulty levels from standard to honors to AP levels to facilitate learning and maintain small class sizes. 

 

Developing Mastery

        To develop mastery, SSBS implements various campus activities with distinctive themes in accordance with students’ characteristics and grade levels, allowing students to acquire component skills, practice integrating them, know when to apply what they have learned and master in preparation for success in a rapidly changing digital society.

• Community Immersion: Students gain exposure and insight into different ways of life in the community, as well as career options. e.g. career days, presentations, published articles, exhibits.

• Social Activities: Students practice a skill in established arenas for competition with a structured organization. e.g.matches, competitions, meets.

• Subject-Based Inquiry: Students delve into areas of interest or passion related to an academic subject of course. e.g. research project, presentation, or essay.

• Interest Oriented Development: Students explore areas of interest not related to academic subject or course. e.g. gallery showing, recital, exhibition.

• Charity and Service: Students volunteer or fundraise for charities and nonprofits on the local and international scale. e.g. events, presentations on impact, volunteer days, published articles.

 

Comprehensive Evaluation

• For all academic courses except Arts and PE: SSBS does not rank students numerically because of our highly academic nature and small class size. Instead, individual, weighted grade point averages are reported.
        Grade point average is based on international-style elective courses (except Arts P.E.) taken at SSBS from 10th grade through 12th grade. The weight of different courses is based on the teaching hours of the courses per week. The grade points are determined by the course difficulty level. AP exam scores are taken into computation of overall scores of corresponding courses. The school has chosen not to rank students. Because of highly competitive nature of admission to SSBS, the variety of academic backgrounds of our students, and various mastery the students develop, a numeric rank would not be a fair or useful way to reflect the strength and differences within and among students.

• For extra-curricular activities: each student must finish minimum 80- hours worth of activities & community service for graduation. The school utilizes a teacher’s evaluation form to assess the extent of activity fulfillment as well as students’ personal development.