Required Vietnamese Classes for some MS and HS Students

Dear SSIS Faculty –

As you are all aware, students at SSIS who entered with a Vietnamese passport are required to take additional coursework mandated by the government. Elementary students do this by attending Vietnamese classes within the academic day. Middle and high school students are required to added classes on Wednesday afternoons from 3:15 – 4:45 pm.

We are thrilled to have Vietnamese students here at SSIS. They enrich our classrooms and provide insights into our wonderful host country. We also support the Vietnamese government’s attempt to make sure they maintain close ties to Vietnamese history, literature, politics, geography, and language. While an international school provides a world-class education, and brings students together from all over the world, in the end we are citizens of our own country, members of a cultural group, with responsibilities to contribute and better our own society.

While we understand the burdens that these classes place on our Vietnamese students, they are required by the government and attendance is not an option. All required classes are already scheduled on the MS Parent/Student Calendar and the HS Parent/Student Calendar. Instructions for how to subscribe to these are found here.

All middle and high school students will be permitted three unexcused absences during the year. These absences include athletic tournaments and test preparation, so student should plan ahead accordingly. Upon the fourth unexcused absence, and for every absence thereafter, students will receive SSIS school suspensions and may put their continued enrollment at SSIS in jeopardy. As a school, we have no authority to excuse students from a government requirement.

I know that none of us likes to see any student miss classes. However, failing to enforce government rules and regulations can put our School’s license and operations in jeapordy.

Please make a note of this and remind your student to attend all classes. Should you have any questions, please contact my office or stop me in the hallway.

Sincerely yours,

Mark Sylte, Head of School