Shanghai Pinghe School


Shanghai Pinghe School is a private, boarding school in Shanghai, China. The school is located in Jinqiao, Pudong. The school consists of an elementary school department, a middle school department and a high school department with both International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and OSSD program from Ontario, Canada.

History and present

Shanghai Pinghe School, an independent and private boarding school in Shanghai, was established in September, 1996. Pinghe initially was operated and owned by Shanghai JinQiao Group Ltd, a state-owned enterprise. The school offers Grade 1 - Grade 12 education and has an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
The campus was originally designed by Canadian designer team. Pinghe has Elementary, Middle School, IB High School and International Program departments. The total enrollment of the school is 1,500 students which includes more than 260 international students from United States, Japan, Korea, Italy, Canada, Singapore, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau etc.
Accreditations include: the IB World School, Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; and Bilingual School in Shanghai

Campus

Teaching facility

Pinghe School has a total area of 24,770 m2 with a building area of 38,005 m2. There are 4 libraries, 3 computer labs, 2 indoor gyms, one indoor swimming pool, a theater with 150 seats, a 250-m track, and a dining hall with 800 seats on campus. Four classroom buildings on campus: main, Local middle school, International Curriculum middle school, and high school. All classrooms inside these buildings are equipped with overhead projectors. The high school building, in use after September 2004, includes two physics labs, an assembly hall, an English-language library, offices and classrooms.

Dormitories

The newest building on campus is the Dormitory Complex which was finished in 2005. It includes a high rise for high school students and teaching faculty and a 4-story building which is for students in middle school.
The other dormitory is connected to the main building which is only for elementary department. Dorms are usually single gender with the exception of Grade 1's.

Activities

Every year Pinghe School holds different competitions. The poetry competition and the singing competition are held once a year between classes. The Voice of Pinghe is another one held facing individuals who have good voice. Every year four teams with a total of 24 singers directed by teachers compete with each other and the best singer among them may receive the award. Debate competitions are also held. Each class may send four debaters and the outstanding classes and individuals may win the prizes.
Some grander and more public events are also held. Every year students from different classes and clubs with their parents and teachers put up stalls on the playground that provide various entertainments, activities or souvenirs celebrating the school's anniversary in September. Performances including singing, dancing and musical instrument ensembles are also given in the theater hall and the playground. Celebrations of the school's 20th year, 2016, were especially on a grand scale, when many alumni of the school participated. Lectures by some renowned social figures like professor Chuan He at the University of Chicago, animal protection activist Hongxiang Huang and Wall Street investor Jim Rogers are also rendered by the school club PHenomenon for not only students, parents and teachers, but also people from outside the school. At the end of every year, the Pinghe student council holds a Jumbo Party, which has many performances given by students, alumni, and teachers in the school gym. The Jumbo Party at the end of 2017 was on December 28.
The school also has its own souvenir store, Pstore, on campus. It sells souvenirs to students, parents, teachers as well as principals from other schools.

Departments

Primary School (Elementary) and Middle School (Junior High)

The two departments offer traditional Chinese-style education in addition to great amounts of involvement of English teaching. The curriculum includes three major parts: compulsory subjects, electives, and special "learn and grow" lessons. Meanwhile, a variety of festivals and activities are also rendered.
Compulsory subjects: Chinese, Math, English, Science, Music, Physical Education, etc.
Electives: over 60. Examples include "Reading Traditional Chinese Poems," "Elementary Course of Spanish," "Factory of Scientific Experiments," "Computer Programming," "Calligraphy," "Chinese Martial Arts," "Piano," and "Saxophone." There are also some clubs, such as those for baseball and ocean investigation.
"Grow and Learn": these lessons aim for the all-round growth of students' basic living abilities, safety awareness, etiquette, social knowledge, etc. There are now 650 students and 59 teachers in the primary school department, whilst 441 students and 41 teachers in the middle school department.
The vice dean of the primary school department is Ms. Xu Yun. The dean of the middle school department is Mr. Li Chunlei.

High School

The high school department offers both International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and OSSD program from Canada to students. Before enrollment, students have to take a test to decide which program they will be in.

IBDP

The program was established in 2002 and officially accredited by International Baccalaureate Organization in 2003. The school has successfully finished its first 5-year evaluation. The official school code is 001458 from International Baccalaureate Organization.
The school offers following subjects:
This program is accredited by the Education Authority of Ontario, Canada. Students will learn basic IBDP courses of Science, Math, Chinese Literature, Physical Education, TOK and Visual Arts in Years 10 and 11. In addition, foreign teachers from Canada will also teach basic courses from the Canadian curriculum.

International Division (now coalesced into Primary School and Junior School)

With an eclectic mix of students from over 40 countries including Australia, Canada, Greece, Japan, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, USA, and UK, Pinghe School International Department builds a feeling of a "world community". The staff is equally diverse, and shares a passion for high expectations and global tolerance. There are approximately 30 staff members, 10 of which are from foreign countries including Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The Dean of the International Department is Ms. Sue Chenjie, and the Head of the Foreign Staff is Mr. Christopher Hayes. A secular-based education is taught with elements of curriculum drawn from USA, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada. The International Division has classes from grade 1 to grade 9. People with Chinese disabilities will learn in a lower grade. The same goes with English.
In School Year 2017, under the requests of the Education Authority of Shanghai which limit the space of International Schools teaching foreign curriculums before Year 9, during the period of the so-called "Nine-Year Compulsory Education," the International Division changes its name to “Division of Integrated Education," and coalesces into Primary and Junior School departments.

School Activities

The school offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Activities include Student-Run TV Station, Model United Nations, community service, Radio Station, Associated Students Body, Newspaper, Roots and Shoots, Volvo Adventure, World Scholar's Cup, Scripps Spelling Bee, etc. The last Shanghai round of WSC was held at the school during one of the weekends in April.
Meanwhile, students are encouraged to establish and work in their own clubs. Despite clubs for subject disciplines, such as Biology, Physics, Mathematics, and History, others for dance, tennis, literature, and even psychology and neuroscience also exist.