Shekou International School opens new campus

Shekou International School (SIS), the oldest of its kind in Shenzhen, officially opened its new primary school campus at Prince Bay area in Zhaoshang Subdistrict, Nanshan District, on Thursday.

The new campus currently accommodates around 400 primary school students from grades 1 to 5. The school’s two other campuses in Shekou — one in Jingshan Villas and the other in Shekou Net Valley — enroll kindergarten and secondary students, respectively.

Students play on a playground at the Prince Bay campus of Shekou International School (SIS) in Nanshan District, which was officially opened Thursday. Courtesy of SIS

For Harish Kanabar, head of SIS, the new campus is a purpose-built facility that gives the school more flexibility to use its own space. “The Prince Bay campus has lots of additional features,” he said. “We have a huge gymnasium, a big field with a running track, a basketball court, two covered playgrounds, science labs, cooking rooms, music rooms, a theater, visual arts rooms, and also additional rooms for breaks.”

Rebecca Wallace, upper primary assistant principal of SIS, also feels pleased with the new campus’ abundant space.

A bird's-eye view of the Prince Bay campus of Shekou International School. Courtesy of SIS

“I think the available space that we have is really good,” Wallace said. “And since everything is in-house — from music rooms to sports fields, we can have students from the Net Valley campus come over to play hockey and basketball and to use the running track. So, it really supports students from all of our three campuses.”

Another highlight of the new campus is that each facility is endowed with a name in ancient Chinese style, echoing SIS’ endeavor to promote learning Chinese and understanding Chinese culture among students.

Students take a music lesson at a music room of The Bay Campus of Shekou International School on Aug. 30. Courtesy of SIS

Some staffers from Zhao-shang Subdistrict Office and Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats were also invited to attend the opening ceremony of the new campus Thursday.

“One of the goals of the school is to give back to the community,” Kanabar said. “So, we are looking for community partnerships through arranging students to assist with local face-lifting projects with their paintings and to give haircuts for the elderly in nursing homes every month.”

For the new campus’ principal Leda Cedo, the school is also willing to better integrate into the local community. “We have Shekou Singer’s Community come here for training every Tuesday,” she said.

A scene at the Prince Bay campus of Shekou International School. Wang Haolan

SIS offers programs in English, Chinese and French to students from nursery through grade 12.

Established in 1988, the school will celebrate its 35th founding anniversary next year. It now has over 1,000 students representing 40-plus countries across the world.

Shekou, the birthplace of China’s reform and opening up, is a unique place for blending local and global elements. It is home to Shenzhen’s largest expat community, with 8,000 expats from over 106 countries and regions, or about one-third of the city’s total expat population, according to statistics from Shekou Subdistrict Office.

The area has been chosen to build an international block in the city’s pilot program to build 20 international blocks by the municipal foreign affairs authority, and Shekou has worked out a three-year plan for the program.