The Academic Curriculum uses an American style of education to offer a Standards Based Academic K-12 Program, which incorporates American and international standards for all content areas. Our Standards combine those from MCREL, which incorporates National Science Standards, National English Standards, National Technology Standards, National Math Standards, and AERO (American Education Reaches Out) Curriculum Standards, which provide an international focus to SSIS Curriculum.

At every grade level and in every subject area, students have specific Benchmarks to achieve, specific skills and mastery of information to demonstrate which align with the content area Standards. This use of Benchmarks and Standards ensures that students at SSIS follow a sequenced, challenging and carefully constructed program of study.

Teachers use a variety of instructional approaches to help students achieve these benchmarks or learning outcomes. Students participate in inquiry, project based activities, creative assignments, role plays, readings, class discussions, group work, independent study, laboratory investigations, and library and multi-media research. The use of various assessments helps teachers continually evaluate student comprehension; teachers may offer additional help and alternative forms of instruction to help all students master the concepts and achieve the benchmarks in each grade level.