Pao School's 2020 graduates have received admission results (including early admission) from universities worldwide, among them a number of world-class universities, such as Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, Johns Hopkins University, London School of Economics and Political Science, New York University, Northwestern University, Purdue University, University of California--Berkeley, University of California--Los Angeles, University of Cambridge, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, University of Oxford, Toronto University, Vanderbilt University, Yale University, as well as liberal arts colleges such as Bowdoin College, Middlebury College, Smith College, Wellesley College, and well-respected art and design colleges, such as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Polimoda International Institute of Design & Marketing (Italy), Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons School of Design (The New School, United States).
These results not only illustrate the broad interests and many talents of our students, but also exemplify our long-standing approach to university admissions: Help students find the right school for them, based on their interests, abilities and personalities.
We are delighted for our students that they have achieved so much success this year. Our Y12s and our teachers have worked incredibly hard and richly deserve their success.
——Mark Bishop,
High School Principal
and Head of Songjiang Campus
The dream of being a pilot takes flight at Pao School
Wilson
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Aeronautical Science, Honors Program
Wilson moved between different schools before finally settling on Pao School in Year 10.
When choosing a high school, Wilson put all these options on the table and weighed them.
Eventually, he settled on Pao School, which had been established for ten years and where
some of his good friends were enrolled.
"From my circle of friends, I could see that life at Pao School was vibrant, and having
attended school in an urban area, I was envious of the large, luxurious campus,"
Wilson said.
It was at Pao School that Wilson finally found the learning environment that was right
for him and which he liked. Wilson especially appreciates the supportive learning environment
at Pao School, how teachers encourage students to pursue their interests outside of the classroom,
and how teachers of respectful of students' choices.
Wilson's photographic work
Pao School WeeStudios members
Wilson participates in a wide variety of co-curriculars at Pao School: aviation and rockets,
the music he's good at playing, sports in which he doesn't excel but must still do, and he also
finds time to dabble in electrician work and carpentry. "At Pao School, you must have some kind
of hobby, or be good at something [besides schoolwork]," he said.
For Wilson, playing violin in the orchestra has become an important way to socialize. To conclude
his high school music career on a high note, Wilson registered to play in the ISCMS (International Schools
Choral Music Society) for the third time this year. His previous appearances at ISCMS had not borne fruit:
The first time he struggled because the song he chose to play was too difficult for his skill level. The second
time, when it was held at Pao School, he was full of confidence but was eliminated from the event because
his song selection was deemed too simple by the judges. This time, he made it past the audition and was ready
to fly to Shenzhen, but the event was cancelled because of the pandemic. "What should have been a successful
ending has instead become a big question mark," Wilson said with regret.
Wilson, who has loved to repair things himself since he was a child, loves to
work with tools such as screwdrivers, electrical tape, and insulated gloves.
One of the most complicated repairs Wilson did was on a set of stage lights in the school's Black Box Theatre,
after confirming how the lights operated and the exact model of the lights from the instruction booklet.
As an "extraordinary member" of the drama club, Wilson also has tried his hand at acting, but struggled
to remember his lines. Instead, he found that he worked well as a stagehand. The overall quality of the
drama performances benefited significantly from Wilson's audiovisual expertise.
Wilson has always been interested in aviation, and at Pao School, he deepened his exploration of the field by
researching rockets along with some of his classmates. Wilson plans to minor in Space Studies at college
because he can use some of the IB credits earned at Pao School to count towards university
credits on general education, and because he has already obtained his U.S. pilot’s license,
which means he will have already fulfilled half of the flight course requirements in his freshman year.
Since my future university doesn't have many art and musical activities,
I especially appreciate the CCA experience at Pao School, which has
become one of the few times we have a chance to interact with students
from all years. It's really valuable experience and an important part of
campus life, whether to learn from upperclassmen or discuss life
experiences with younger students.
——Wilson
Wilson's photographic work
Speaking of his enthusiasm for flying, Wilson recalled that in middle school, he taught himself
about flying using online materials and simulation software, and slowly began to develop
flight simulation addon and plugins of his own. In the second year of middle school,
he set up a flight simulator network and BBS with his friends online, which were successful.
"At that time, I thought that maybe it was a good idea to go out into the world and
get involved in work related to flight simulation or information technology," Wilson says.
After coming to Pao School, Wilson carefully examined the physical requirements for pilots,
and discovered that in foreign countries, the requirements are less stringent than in China.
He began to seriously consider a career as a pilot internationally. At that point,
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) unequivocally become his first choice.
Established in 1925, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is one of the oldest aviation universities in the world. ERAU offers an honors program that offers excellent students an enhanced learning environment and academic resources to help prepare them optimally for a career in aviation after graduation.
The legal age that one can obtain a private pilot's license in America is 17, so Wilson used
several of his winter and summer vacations starting from Y10 to complete the flight training
in the United States, successfully flew solo in a plane and earned his pilot's license in
February 2020 and to date Wilson has total 90 hours of flying.
Speaking of what struck him most about Wilson, Mr. Poole said it was Wilson's sense of responsibility.
While he can be very independent, he really takes the initiative for the things that he cares about.
Mr. Poole explained: "I recall once mentioning to the English class that it would be nice if we had some
comfy chairs for our IOC (individual oral commentaries). Needless to say, I forgot all about what I had said."
But Wilson didn't forget: A few days later, he brought in the chair that Mr. Poole had requested.
"Most students would not have done that. Most would have just brushed off my request as a
teacher’s inane ramblings. This is what sets Wilson apart from his peers," Mr. Poole said.
He added: "I have no doubts that Wilson will have a great career in aviation. And who knows, one day
in the future, I may be on a plane flying somewhere and the captain will announce that his name is Wilson."
The roots of Horace's transformation
Horace
Middlebury College
History
Horace's educational journey took him to private schools in Malaysia and public schools
in Suzhou before it finally brought him to Pao School. Because of his mother's work,
Horace spent the first and second years of primary school at a private school in Malaysia.
Since that school did not offer Chinese classes, he did not officially start learning Chinese
until he returned to China for his third year of primary school. Because Horace did not have
a strong foundation in Chinese, it was hard for him to keep up with the pace of Chinese
classes in China. He has loved reading since he was a child, but the large amount of
repetition in recitation made him lose interest in language learning for a while.
His confidence also suffered from the constant mistakes he made writing his Chinese characters.
In Horace's mother's opinion, Horace was happy after coming to Pao School because he had
a lot of time for independent reading, and there was no tedious repetition and recitation anymore.
At Pao School, Horace gradually built up his Chinese communication skills in reading, conversation,
presenting and writing. He became increasingly fond of Chinese class, and began
to take an interest in writing.
Horace really likes Pao School's language teaching model, which mainly combines reading classics and
discussing texts. Through in-depth reading and discussion of classic literary works and plays, students
learn how to apply to the Chinese language to gain a deeper understanding of the context and
imagery used by the writer.
Bilingual teaching is a cornerstone of Pao School's approach to education. To ensure that Chinese
and English learning go hand in hand, the High School Chinese Department has specially coordinated
the pace of they are learning the same type of literary genre concurrently. For example, when studying
dramatic literary works, students learn "Thunderstorm" in Chinese and "Romeo and Juliet" in English.
This integrated, bilingual approach makes it easier for Horace to master both Chinese and English language.
After students have read the texts and discussed them in groups, teachers usually assign written homework to
boost students' written expression skills. After finishing reading a classic work of literature, students need to
complete a diagram that illustrates the relationship between key characters in a book, specific reading
comprehension exercises, and other homework to deepen their understanding of the story. In addition, teachers
reinforce students' foundational language through dictation, testing and idiom competitions. In this environment,
Horace has become a more successful and confident language learner.
In the advanced IB course, Horace chose History, Drama and English B. He chose history and drama for similar reasons.
He hoped to diversify his thinking and outlook through the study of both disciplines. In IB History, Horace learned to
analyze the same historical event from different angles, explore how human civilization developed in different parts of the
world in different eras, and how history itself has evolved.
Horace sees history as a mirror that can let him see his life from a different perspective and reflect: “Learning how to think from the perspective of others is the most important lesson I have learned in my life," he says.
That's not all history has taught Horace: He has also learned from his history studies how to face failures
in life and learn from them. From studying both history and drama, Horace discovered that many things
in life are two-sided, and there is no absolute right or wrong.
Drama has also given Horace the opportunity to learn many skills. It is a small class with just five students,
and everyone has the chance to try his or her hand at screenplay writing, stage design, directing, acting and more.
The small class size and diversified teaching model have helped Horace get the most out of drama class, and he
has had a very good relationship with both the teacher and his classmates.
Horace admits that before joining Pao School, he was less confident, more introverted and more guarded.
In his earliest days at Pao School, he remembers often talking back to his teachers, having mediocre study
habits and being too aloof to attract the attention of girls. For these reasons, he thought of himself as a "maverick."
Yet after just one year at Pao School, he met teachers who would become both his mentors and close friends,
those people who helped ignite his enthusiasm for learning.
In addition to his teachers, Horace's classmates have had a positive influence on him. Horace's classmates
helped turn the initially shy, introverted boy into a more optimistic and confident young man. Having changed
so dramatically, Horace hopes to help others who suffer from the same extreme timidity as he once did.
In this endeavour, he has participated in various volunteer activities at school, doing in-house perfect to
help the younger students, and serving as a junior counsellor during summer camp. Outside of school, he has
served as a volunteer interpreter at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall and won the prize of Zijincao volunteer.
Class sizes are small at Pao School, and the student community is very tight-knit. It is easy to find like-minded friends and build trust.
——Horace
Horace and his classmate, Irene
Pao School's educational approach is gentle and seamless. The positive effects of this approach on the
children do not appear overnight, but rather gradually, over time. At the same time, Pao School is a place
where children are allowed to develop fully. Pao School offers a drama class of just five students, which is
not easy to find. This drama class improved Horace's self-confidence, and also gave him a chance to
improve his planning, teamwork, organization and management skills. Seeing Horace grow in this way
makes me very grateful [to Pao School].
——Horace's mother
