During the break, as summer transitions into early autumn, Pao School campuses have undergone a variety of careful maintenance and upgrade operations. Its once-quiet grounds are now ready to welcome the new academic year with a fresh look. The whole school eagerly anticipates the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
Professional Training
In mid-August, newly hired teachers from both China and abroad began arriving at Pao School's various campuses across Shanghai. These new teachers attended a 3-day new staff orientation to help them adjust to their roles and life at the school. Subsequently, each campus held a week-long faculty orientation event, covering essential topics such as the school’s annual plan, curriculum framework, teaching platform upgrades, safety training, and facility improvements. Ample time was also allocated for year-level and subject group discussions to ensure teachers are well-prepared for the upcoming academic year.
Each campus developed targeted training programs tailored to its unique educational focus. The Primary School offered sessions on positive discipline and MaxHub guidance. The Middle School incorporated Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS), tutoring programs, learning support, and service learning, along with training on MaxHub. Meanwhile, the High School focused on teaching and learning innovations, along with student well-being, tutor training, and an introduction to the boarding system.
To help the international staff better understand Chinese culture, each campus organized activities with Chinese culutural component. The Songjiang campus offered a special class on Chinese culture, featuring themes centered around five cities: Where the Mountain Meets the Sea: Confucius' Shandong; The Colorful Canvas of Southwest China: Yunnan and Guizhou; Classic History and Culture of Northwest China; Chongqing & Sichuan: Where Spice Meets Paradise; and Northeast Style: More Than BBQ & Ice. These initiatives emphasized the school's commitment to cross-cultural integration.
Back-to-School Communication
As the new school year approaches, each campus has organized targeted back-to-school activities for new and returning students. The Primary School held an informational meeting for new parents and one-on-one sessions for returning parents to connect with their child’s new homeroom teacher. At the Middle School, campus tours and class meetings were arranged for new students to help them acclimate. The High School will host parent-school communication meetings for various year levels after the school year begins, ensuring parents understand the curriculum requirements for the new academic year, to achieve better home-school cooperation.
Campus Facilities
Each campus continues to uphold the philosophy of serving teachers and students, with each campus conducting targeted facility optimization work during the summer. The Wuding campus focused on the refined enhancement of learning and living spaces, updating the decor in classrooms, corridors, and restrooms. By optimizing the use of whiteboard partition walls, the storage space in each classroom was expanded. The corridor walls were updated with wall carpets to improve sound absorption. Additionally, a new outdoor pavilion was added to the playground, providing a sheltered area for students' outdoor activities, and a retractable awning was installed on the fifth-floor activity platform to ensure ample space for students to engage in activities even on rainy days.
At the Hongqiao campus, the safety of the entrance area was significantly enhanced through redesign of the main gate and the addition of crash barriers. All classrooms underwent smart upgrades, and the second laboratory received new adjustable experiment tables. The library added new bookshelves and reading spaces, while the second floor of the Anna Pao Sohmen Centre introduced bookshelves and furniture to provide students with a comfortable environment for reading and socializing. Drinking water dispensers were installed in outdoor and rooftop sports areas, and the overall renovation of the pavement in front of the teaching building was completed.
The Songjiang campus is making significant progress in its renovation plan for teacher apartments, consistently updating the interior decor each year to enhance living conditions for faculty. Notably, the purchasing and operations departments have strictly adhered to student dormitory design standards while also considering the needs for privacy and independence, successfully completing the furniture renovation project in the student dormitory. Additionally, the tea bar has undergone a complete renovation to better serve both students and staff.
Campus Operations
The Operation Teams of each campus also took advantage of the holiday period to carry out a deep cleaning of all classrooms, offices, libraries, auditoriums, stadiums and other venues and furniture, washing and drying the uniforms, plush toys, floor mats and sports equipment to be used during the semester. There has also been a thorough inspection of all the desks and chairs in the offices and classrooms, and of the facilities in the dorm rooms on the Songjiang Campus, to ensure the safety and comfort of all faculty members and students.
