​There has never been a better time to join the SPASS program and invest into the American education industry. We have established SPASS to manage and support all of our Saint Paul schools in locations throughout Asia in this exiting and opportune time. The basis of our methods of aiding you in starting your school and developing your teachers comes from 17 years of experience in the international school business.

SPASS is staffed with experienced educators and business professionals, led by leaders in the industry, who not only understand your needs, but also have built best practices and advisement from their own previous work. We understand through our experience how to solve the complicated problems of starting and supporting a new school. Through our initial or ongoing support, we are available for advisement and guidance while supplying you with the most relevant and experienced-tested best practices.

"How to solve the complicated problems of starting and supporting a new school"

a. Case: The first challenge for every new school is deciding who will be the academic leader. Who has the experience and character to effectively start and manage the faculty and direction of a new school? Where do schools find a principal? How will I know that they are qualified and up to the task? Support/Solution: First, SPASS takes the time to understand your needs, goals, budget, and timeline for all leadership positions. Then, SPASS utilizes its own network of educators as well as recognized recruiting services to gather applications. After a rigorous interview process that includes initial screening, phone interviews, video interviews, detailed notes and scoring rubrics, and professional background checks, SPASS presents you with three qualified candidates capable of being the academic leaders of your school. One of the great aspects of our hiring system is how it takes the pressure off the school to search through the sea of candidates. It’s very time consuming for anyone involved in starting a school. Having those three most-qualified candidates to choose from is a huge relief, and the quality of these candidates, along with detailed notes, is something we’re dedicated to provide. It also links us to that candidate early on, and we form a professional relationship and understanding that will carry over into the school year. That level of understanding, of cooperation, is worth it every time.

b. Case: Providing a quality academic experience is the most important thing for a school. How does SPASS know what teachers are teaching in the classroom? How do you know? How do parents know? How do the students know? Support/Solution: SPASS has developed an academic management system to ensure the quality of your academics. There are many different aspects and components to our system that all work together. First, we provide the curriculum. The curriculum is developed by experienced educators and uses current best teaching practices, learning standards, and resources and is updated every year. Next, we train staff in how to use it, how to access it, and how to apply and teach it in the classroom. We ensure the pacing guides, syllabi, and learning targets are displayed in the classroom so everyone from parents to teachers to the l eadership and most importantly students understand what is being taught. After that, we review teacher presentations to make sure the teacher understands the curriculum, what they are teaching, and are prepared for the year ahead. We also like to get to know the teachers because we want them to stay at the school for a long time and continually improve and get better. After that, we actually visit the school at least once a semester to do feedback visits. During our visits, we are talking to the teachers figuring out what they are teaching and how they can become a better teacher and how we can improve the curriculum. Through all of this, we are working with a curriculum coordinator at the school who collects teacher's weekly lesson plans that can be reviewed.

c. Case: One of the biggest changes in international education is parents' expectations about their children's education. Parents invest a lot of time, energy, and resources in their child's education so a lot of parents expect really outstanding results and a high-achieving student. However, what every parent is r eally concerned about and the best way to gain the support and trust of parents is being honest and clear about what is happening in the classroom. With supportive parents that trust you and the school, it is going to help your school grow more than any other system could. But how can new schools do this? Support/Solution: SPASS provides you with different tools to gain and maintain parent trust. First, we train teachers and staff in student information systems like ClassDojo or PowerSchool. These applications let parents login and view notes from teachers, teacher comments, grades, attendance, assignments due, and test results. And what is really important for elementary is providing pictures daily of the students learning in the classroom. And they can see that through the student information systems or class websites. We also send weekly overviews home to the parents that tells what the students will be doing in class that week and our curriculum like pacing guides and daily learning targets are posted throughout the classroom for everyone to see. It is also important to hold parent orientation seminars to explain to parents what an American and international education system is like, what to expect, and how they can help their student be successful at school. Parents are learning more and more and becoming more invested in their student's education which is really great for schools but we need to realize nowadays we aren't only teaching students but parents as well.

d. Case: Goals of schools differ. Some schools want their kids to go to the best colleges, others say we want our kids to speak English well, and others just want happy students who are excited to come to school every day. However, there are some goals that we hear repeatedly from schools and the one that is shared by all school owners and school leaders is how can we be recognized and show that we are a good school with a quality education program Support/Solution: And the answer is through accreditation with SPASS support. So obtaining accreditation is like receiving a stamp of quality for your school. Saint Paul American School System has received this stamp of quality from US national accrediting organizations and are able to help our schools receive corporate accreditation with us. In a school's first year, they receive US national accreditation and may be able to receive US regional accreditation. By using us, accreditation is streamlined and is more cost effective for the schools. We help with all the document preparation and organization to become accredited.