Stamford was established in Hong Kong in August 2016 by Cognita and opened its doors to its first cohort of students in September 2017. Stamford enrolled more than 350 students in its foundation year. In 2018, Stamford announced its on-campus facilities enhancement project to support the development of its high school curriculum; the project is expected to complete in late 2020.
Campus
Stamford American School Hong Kong took over the former New Method College on 25 Man Fuk Road, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong as its campus. The School was refurbished before opening and fitted with new facilities including:
Stamford Arena
25m indoor heated swimming pool
Innovation center
STEMinn laboratory
Cognita iLearn
Art room
Drama room
Private music rooms
Structure
Stamford is a K-12 school with Pre-Primary, Elementary, Middle School and High School on the same campus.
Leadership
Owned and operated by Cognita, the School is the second Stamford American School in the world and is one of the 11 schools in Asia in the Cognita Family of Schools. Stamford American School Hong Kong is led by Head of School Ms. Karrie Dietz, Upper School Principal Mr. Neil Walton, Lower School Principal Ms. Rose Chambers, and Student Welfare and Safety Principal Mr. Alan Erickson.
Curriculum and testing
Stamford uses an American standards-based curriculum, based on the rigorous and proven and Common Core Plus standards that develop a strong foundation in the core subjects such as language art, math, humanities, and science. The curriculum is delivered using an inquiry-based approach across themes through a personalized learning approach. Elementary School : An inquiry-based curriculum approach is combined with the and Common Core Plus standards. Stamford adopts the standardized in Reading, Mathematics and Science. MAP® tests are administered twice a year to benchmark and predict student growth to inform teaching and support personalized learning. Middle School : A transition from the heavily transdisciplinary nature of Elementary studies to a blend of interdisciplinary and subject-specific areas of learning, with the goal to prepare students for pre-university examinations and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. High School : High School at Stamford consists of two years of Stamford integrated courses and then two years of Diploma Programme and Stamford high school diploma courses. Stamford American School Hong Kong is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and pursuing authorization as an IB World School. Pre-university testing starts from Grade 10 to the beginning of Grade 12 at Stamford and the final IBDP external assessments take place at the end of Grade 12. Stamford offers IBDP, American High School Diploma, or both as graduation pathways. Beginning at age five, students in Stamford are offered a Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Innovation Program which is based on the STEM principles with an added focus on innovation. Stamford also offers a bilingual program in English/Mandarin for students in Pre-Primary to Grade 2 or the choice of daily Mandarin or Spanish class for 40 minutes for all grades. For English as an additional languages speakers, the school provides support through two programs, the Accelerated Language Program and the English as an Additional Language Program.
