Since our humble beginnings in 1993, people from nearly every corner of the world have been a part of the Shanghai Community International School family. In the 2019-2020 school year alone, SCIS students and their families come from 54 countries, our teachers, staff, and administrators come from nearly fourteen nationalities, and, combined, there are more than 35 different languages and dialects with which we can communicate in.
What started out as a single campus, cozily neighboring Shanghai No.3 Girl’s Middle School, with seven teachers and less than 50 students, has since grown to include three campuses across the city and over 1,700 students. While our physical locations may have changed and our numbers have grown over the years, one key element that has remained the same is the strength behind our amazing community: our diversity.
We are a community that is diverse in our backgrounds. We come from countries all over the world, speak a myriad of different languages, and have different ideas about education, life, food, and religion. On a daily basis, we are able to interact with people from a variety of cultures and are exposed to different ideas, customs and ways of doing things. While a little intimidating at times, this exposure helps us understand our differences in a personal way and reinforces our own values and beliefs while acknowledging and accepting those of others.
Celebrations such as the United Nations Day and International Day of Peace, for example, are colorful reminders of the diverse student body that we have present at each one of our three campuses. These are some special celebrations that truly showcase the uniqueness that makes up the culture at SCIS and remind us of the unique perspectives which our students, teachers, and parents bring to the community every day.
This multi-cultural and caring community means students have classmates and friends from across the globe and share a learning environment where everyone is valued as equal while still cherished as an individual. It means parents are engaged, accepted and have opportunities to take active roles in the school and in their children’s education. And it means our dedicated teachers and administrators bring a breadth of international knowledge and expertise to the SCIS classrooms.
By choosing to surround ourselves with people of diverse traditions, values, and beliefs we have come to embrace our differences and recognize our commonalities. It is that very diversity that makes our community such a unique, vibrant and welcoming one, and it is why we are proud to call SCIS our second home.
By Mikael Masson Perez
