The SMIC School is a bilingual school. To serve the unique needs of our student body, the school offers two academic tracks - an International Track and a Chinese Track.

One of the biggest differences is in the tuition fee. We offer the same quality teaching and curriculum as the best international schools in Shanghai for less than half the price. Within the International Track, we also have a very solid Chinese language program where students are placed in the appropriate classes based on their Chinese proficiency.

School hours are from 7:50 a.m. (elementary) and 7:55 am (middle/high school) to 3:25 pm. Students are expected to arrive at school between 7:45 am and 8:00am.

The name comes from the company, “Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation”, China’s largest and most advanced semiconductor company. SMIC Company originally created the school in Shanghai for employees’ children. However, the school has grown phenomenally since then and non-employees' children account for the majority of the current student population.

The Shanghai SMIC School was founded in 2001.

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Applicants applying to SMIC-I will need to take entrance assessments on Math and English (reading comprehension, writing and oral skills). Elementary Grade 1 applicants will be assessed based on their speaking, reading and writing ability. Please refer to the current Admissions Conferences for more information on the entrance assessments for EK1, EK2 and Grade 1.

We accept transfer applications for SMIC-I until the midterms for each semester.

Please see "Tuition and Fees".

To minimize disruptions to our students’ learning, parents can only make appointments for a general school tour, during which they can briefly observe a lesson from outside the classroom.

SMIC-I follows an American-based curriculum and in addition to core courses taught in English, students also take Chinese language classes according to the level of their Chinese proficiency. For more information about the curriculum and the teaching standards we follow, please refer to the elementary, middle and high school pages.

The average class size in the elementary division is 22 students with a maximum of 25 students. In the Middle and High School, the maximum number of students per class is no more than 30. The teacher-student ratio is 1:9 in the middle/high school division and 1:10 in the elementary division.

The School offers two different Chinese language programs: Chinese Regular (Yuwen) and Chinese as a Second language (CSL). Students with native Chinese language skills may take regular Chinese classes which follow a standardized Chinese curriculum as set forth by the Full-time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum standards. Students who are not native Chinese speakers may take CSL (Chinese as a Second Language) classes, which follows standards devised through the International Curriculum for Chinese Language. For more details, please contact the CSL department. 

SMIC Chinese Concentration Class (CCC) Program

The Chinese Concentration Class (CCC) program was introduced to SMIC-I Elementary School in 2011, and has become a popular program for prospective SMIC-I parents. This is a three-year program specially designed at the elementary level to provide the essence of both Western and Eastern educations, and build a solid foundation in English, Chinese and Math computational skills.

English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Music, Arts and Computer classes follow well-established American curriculum. The Chinese Language curriculum is enhanced with four additional periods of classical reading and composition practice. The Math class follows the local curriculum, in which computational skills are emphasized.

This strenuous program requires students to have complete mastery of both languages to be successful. Potential students are required to pass both English and Chinese exams. Students who achieve higher scores will be accepted first. Students in the program are required to stay for at least one school year. They cannot drop out of the program and switch to the regular class in the middle of the school year. Switching will depend on the availability of vacancy in the other program.

The program and students are closely monitored to ensure maximum learning outcome. The homework load is approximately 2 hours a night. Parents need to take this seriously into consideration before the enrollment, and assist their children on time management once in the program.

The SMIC School's cafeteria is run by a food-service vendor. In an effort to provide balanced meals, the school cafeteria offers different menus everyday. Students are served primarily with Chinese dishes while Western dishes are supplemented on a regular basis.

All students are required to enroll in the lunch plan and eat in the school cafeteria. Special arrangements may be made for students with religious or special needs due to medical conditions, if proper documentation is provided in advance.

Yes, there are more than 20 shuttle buses providing bus service for students who live in various locations in Pudong and Puxi. Morning pick up times for buses depend on the student's location. Bus departure times from school to home are listed below:

Note: MHS students living in Pudong can ONLY choose one departure time, once decided; their bus schedule can NOT be changed in the middle of the semester.

How to Apply for School Bus Service

The GA Office handles the school bus arrangements. If you would like to apply for school bus service, please contact Mr. Qin via phone at +86-21-2033-2588 ext. 364, or via email at rich_qin@smicschool.com.

Each SMIC school bus will have one chaperone to ensure the safety of our students. In order to fulfill most of our students’ needs, we no longer provide school bus service for students living beyond the outer ring including some remote living areas far away from the main routes. Parents living in these locations will need to arrange their own transportation to and from school.

No, the SMIC School does not provide housing to students.