Shaping young minds and educating their mind, body, and spirit with a holistic approach since 2007, YK Pao School is a pioneering international Chinese school. Envisioned to create a world-class school for tomorrow’s China, YK Pao is a private non-profit organization established 16 years ago in honor of shipping magnate Sir Yue-Kong Pao, a renowned Chinese businessman and philanthropist. With around 1600 students from China and overseas, the school offers a distinctive Year 1–12 educational program that combines Shanghai and international curricula and culminates in the IGCSE and IB Diploma programs, both of which are complemented by core components of the Chinese National curriculum.
Pao School has a cutting-edge Chinese-English immersion bilingual program that nurtures every aspect of students, including their emotional, social, physical, and intellectual selves, and gets them ready to be involved and responsible global citizens in the twenty-first century.
Educating future leaders and global citizens on a foundation of strong values and academic excellence, Pao School is divided into primary, middle, and high schools. The Primary School (Years 1–5) and the Middle School (Years 6–8) are day schools located in Shanghai’s city center whilst the High School (Years 9–12) is located in Shanghai’s Songjiang District and offers boarding education in the UK and US style as well as serving day students.
There are some exceptionally brilliant and talented students on all three campuses, ready to be pushed and challenged, but this isn’t a school that only cares about its top students; it isn’t a school where it’s survival of the fittest; they do not want anyone left behind. Additionally, they have an intense desire for every student to feel recognized and cared for individually at this school.
The Man of the Hour
An accomplished educational leader with extensive industry experience, Mark Bishop serves as the Executive Headmaster of YK Pao School. He boasts a remarkable 35+ years of academic experience. After a successful career as the Headmaster of London’s Trinity School, Mark joined the Pao School in August 2018 as the Principal of the High School. Charterhouse School, one of the top boarding schools in the UK and a sister institution to Pao School is where Mark received his education. He continued his education at Oxford University, where he earned degrees in politics, philosophy, economics, and theology.
In the words of Mr. Mark Bishop, “We are a school that passionately believes in holistic education—we are educating mind, body, and spirit—we want our students to be well-balanced and well-rounded youngsters, but we also believe that at the heart of holistic education is academic excellence.”
Future-driven: Mission and Vision of YK Pao School
The mission and vision at YK Pao School are to help educate China’s future leaders—leaders in a variety of fields —with the belief that they will serve as a much needed link between China and the West.
The mission of YK Pao School is to develop the whole person, fostering their intellectual, social, and emotional abilities, as well as their moral character and attitudes, in a variety of learning environments and activities. In order to address problems and flourish on a worldwide scale, the school fosters an international viewpoint and helps students develop intercultural knowledge and abilities.
The Ideologies on Ground Zero!
As a recognized center for academic excellence, YK Pao School aims to educate Pao School students and families about opportunities for higher education, guide students through the vast array of international college and university options, introduce them to institutions and programs that are ideal for their interests and skills, and successfully support the students during the application process to a wide range of world leading universities including in recent years Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge.
Services are available to support students in their pursuit of a university starting in Year 9, as well as to help them locate relevant summer programs, internships, and a variety of other enrichment options.
“In line with our whole-person education philosophy, the University and Careers Counseling Office believes strongly that students have a diverse and wide range of talents. As such, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution when it comes to helping students go on to the next phase of their education. We urge parents and students to approach the university application process with an open mind and to carefully consider the ‘best fit’ between the student and school profiles. Finding a suitable institution that matches the student’s abilities, interests, and skills is a critical element of the university search process, the leading man continued. We want our kids to succeed in college and accomplish exceptional outcomes”, the leading man stated.
Education in the Present Scenario!
Mark says that he expects AI-driven software to radically transform schooling within the next five to ten years. Additionally, it will revolutionize the world that your children will enter, making future-focused education like that provided at YK Pao School even more crucial. Along with building a solid foundation of knowledge, the next generation must also acquire the know-how to use emerging technology, embrace innovation, and be able to adjust to the unpredictable nature of shifting circumstances. All three campuses are properly equipped for the quickly changing environment we live in, thanks to Mark and his staff. They will also remember the value of face-to-face, in-person interactions between peers and teachers, which are fundamental to children’s growth and education. Discovering the past, being in the present, and preparing for the future are all equally important aspects of a Pao School education.
Getting an Edge Over the Peers
YK Pao School stands out as an educational leader because of its numerous distinguishing factors. As they have recently celebrated the School’s 15th year anniversary, they have been reflecting on what makes YK Pao School stand out:
- Academic excellence built upon high quality teaching and learning based on students’ interests in all areas, including creative writing, debate, research, and scientific projects, in addition to exam results.
- Character education assures that the moral development of young people is valued as highly as academic learning.
- In keeping with the humanitarian attitude and activities of the namesake, YK Pao School ensures that the students acquire a sense of social duty and citizenship.
- The emphasis on the appreciation of Chinese culture provides all of the students with a solid foundation in Chinese history, literature, philosophy, arts, and more, while also inspiring them to take an interest in particular facets of the culture.
- The school strives to offer a well-rounded education that includes academics, sports, values, the arts, and employment (such as taking care of the dorms). They contend that their offering of over 100 different extracurricular activities like sports, drama, clubs, and other extracurricular pursuits help pupils develop organizational, time-management, cooperative, problem-solving, and mental agility skills.
Pao School’s Insights on Diversity and Inclusion
The school currently has approximately 1,600 students, including Chinese and international students from more than 20 different nations and regions. The institution also has a diverse faculty, with close to 370 employees from 20 different nations and regions.
To be an inclusive school, equality of opportunity must be a reality for all students. In order to achieve this goal, Pao School aims to:
- Keep an eye on the academic progress, general health, and standard of the available learning options for all students.
- Keep track of each student’s academic development so that you can create provisions for specific people or groups.
- Keep tabs on each student’s progress in terms of well-being so that the right kind of help may be given.
- Determine potential obstacles to student learning and full engagement in school life and try to overcome them.
- Deploy the top resources to best understand the different needs of students.
