Why Choose an American School in Singapore?

In a country where local and expat families have a wide choice of UK and IB schools, the opportunity to study at an American international school is also a popular option. There are several schools offering students some of the best aspects of an American education with all the advantages of living in Singapore to enrich their learning.

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com combines all the information you need – based on our experience of visiting US schools in Singapore and interviews with their school leaders – to help you decide if an American education is right for your child.

Which schools in Singapore offer a US education?

There are now four US curriculum schools in Singapore  and they remain a popular choice for many parents, especially if they have ambitions for their children to attend a prestigious college or university in the US. These US schools  range from the enormous Singapore American School to the much smaller International Community School (Singapore), and include the IB continuum school, Stamford American International. The new XCL American Academy will open in August 2022.

These three, all-through schools base their teaching on the frameworks of American schools. Each has a very American orientation, and each offers a US High School Diploma as the school leaving qualification. They are all accredited by WASC (Western Association of Colleges and Schools), a US-based approved agency. As well as being popular with families relocating from the US, these schools also attract students from a host of other countries. As well as admissions being open to all nationalities, the curriculum has an international perspective that will appeal to many.

Read more: US Curriculum Schools: What Every Parent Should Know…

These are schools where homerooms, advisory lessons, (and sometimes even baseball) are all part of the daily conversation. Students are enrolled into Grades rather than Year groups; and the academic year follows the US two semester system. They have the look and feel of an American school (some certainly more than others) and celebrations such as Thanksgiving feature as prominently as local festivals. But these schools are certainly not cookie cutters of each other. They are unique, each with their own strengths.

You don’t need to have an American passport to apply, either. These schools are open to students of all nationalities although they tend to have a larger American student community; it’s also not unusual to find a higher proportion of teachers from the US here too.

Read more: US Curriculum Schools: What You Need To Know

Next page: What will my child learn in the American curriculum?