USA International School - Transforming students into passionate, creative, and responsible citizens

1. Please mention about the school and its mission/vision and various infrastructural facilities.

United Standard Academy (USA) International School (USAIS) was founded by a group of Cambodian educators in 2001 in Battambang Province. USAIS opened its doors welcoming students in Phnom Penh for the first time in 2011.

Our Vision: USAIS aims to transform our students into passionate, creative, and responsible citizens that are empowered to actively engage in challenging and meaningful work in the world around them.

Our Mission: The mission of USAIS is to work in partnership with students, family, and community in order to unleash students’ full potential by giving them the tools to pursue their personal goals and to enrich their community.

Our Core Values: Respectful, Responsible, Resourceful (3Rs)

2. Kindly mention about the prominent personality of the school and his/her role in the development of the school.

The success of our school is attributed to the collective effort of our board of directors and the parents. Our board directors comprises of passionate individuals who believe in the power of the education, and more importantly they all believe that parents’ involvements is crucial to a child’s success in school. As a result, we have regular parent-teacher meeting in which parents are invited to school to discuss their child’s academic progress with the teachers. Besides this, we are open for constructive feedback from parents on a daily basis for the betterment of the quality of educational services provided.

3. Kindly describe about the various courses offered by the school and their salient features.

USA International School offer a bilingual program for students from pre-school to primary level. USAIS follows Cambodian National Curriculum and Cambridge International Curriculum for our pre-school and primary level program. We adopt a STEM-based curriculum of New Generation Schools, new reform inaugurated by the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport of Cambodia, for our secondary program. Our students are encouraged take part in academic and non-academic program within and outside the school such as Spelling Bees, Public Speaking Competition, Art Exhibition, Students Talent Shows, the National STEM Festival, and also exchange program with school partner abroad.

4. What steps does the school take to motivate and develop the students’ interest towards education?

Our school motivate and develop the students’ interest towards education by enhancing the practical knowledge of the students because we believe that once the students can use the knowledge they have earned from school in a meaningful way, they will be more interested and motivated in education.

Our project-based instruction, assessments, and opportunities that we offer for our students to expose themselves to the real world such as public exhibition, study tours, outdoor activities, as well as exchange programs abroad ensure our goal of ensuring the knowledge taught at school is practical and relevant. Our student club also serves as a platform for our students to practice the knowledge and skills learned in the class come in the real world. Furthermore, we have our community exposure program in which guest speakers are invited to come to school to give lectures as well as demonstrations to our students on various practical topics.

This program gives students an opportunity to speak to experts from different fields. Last but not the least, our international exchange program enable our students to interact and connect with their peers from other cultural backgrounds, and at the same time to learn about new practical knowledge and skills such as; cross-cultural communities, conflict resolution skills, and so on. More importantly, this program opens a door for our students to showcase their own capacity and creative minds to the world.

5. How are you providing financial assistance to the students in need?

Though our school is a pure private school without getting any subsidy from the government or any organization, we usually offer certain scholarship to students each year.

6. Other than traditional occupations, what other career field options are available for them?

USAIS is a K-12 school, so after graduating from our school, our students usually pursue their degree in different university in Cambodia as well as outside the countries before they start their career path. Within the time with us, our students are exposed to different career path through our career guide program so that they are able to make a well informed decision when choosing university major to pursue.

7. Please enlighten us about the school’s major awards/achievements, its accomplished/renowned alumni, remarkable collaborations, and major accreditations.

USA International School emphasizes not only academic excellence but more importantly character building. Our academic and non-academic teams always hold our students accountable for their own behavior and choices by consistently implementing our rigorous disciplinary procedures.

Academically, students are taught by our enthusiastic and experienced teachers who are continuously trained to be well informed about new teaching strategies and technique. Our up-to-date curriculum and teaching methodologies ensure that our students are well equipped with necessary knowledge and 21st century skills to become successful adults. Last but not least, students’ safety is our priority. We are working to ensure that each and every student is physically and mentally safe.

There is always at least one adult to supervise our students in the common areas including but not limited to school lobby, library, playground, hallway and stairway. Furthermore, our healthy food program is another example of our effort to be keep our students physically strong and at the same time build our students healthy living style. Students at USAIS are equipped with an ability that meets an international standard without neglecting Cambodian cultures and traditions. Remarkably, we have students who are studying at our school pursuing their studies in different countries such as the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and so on.

We also have partnership agreement and collaboration with local and international partners such as Robothink Cambodia, I.A.M.A Cambodia, Youth Ambassadors (Singapore), and schools in Singapore, Malaysia, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. If parents are looking for a school where their children are multi-culturally competent, USA International School is the primary choice.

8. Kindly elaborate about the future plans of the school in the same.

USA International School aims to become a go-to inclusive international school operated by local educators. Currently, we are supporting our students with special needs to the best of our abilities and skills. In the future, we are expecting to be capable in accommodating more and more special needs children. We are building leadership and responsibility within our students at all levels. In short, we are committed to becoming a school where future leaders come from.