Virtually every five year old comes to school eager to learn. The mission of Quality Schools International (QSI) is to keep this urge to learn alive in every child in QSI schools. Our schools are established to provide in the English language a quality education for students in the cities we serve. These students are the children of parents of many nationalities who have come to a foreign country, usually for a limited stay of a year or more. Some students are permanent residents, citizens of the host country.

Our schools follow a logical model of education which measures success by the accomplishments and attitudes of our students. We believe that all of our students can succeed, that their successes encourage them to continue in a pattern of success, and that it is the schools’ responsibility to provide the conditions for success. These conditions include

i) developing clear statements in measurable terms of what the student will do to demonstrate mastery of learning,

ii) providing the time and resources needed for each student to attain mastery, and

iii) ensuring that students engage in learning at a level which is challenging and yet a level for which each student has the prerequisite skills necessary for success.

We believe in providing an aesthetically pleasing physical surrounding under the charge of a caring staff who believe their students will be successful, and who use time with the students as a resource for learning rather than as a boundary condition to determine when a unit of learning begins and ends. We believe in providing resources such as books, learning materials, and educational technology. In the world today children need to become proficient in the use of computers and related technology as tools to accomplish a myriad of tasks.

Finally we believe in working with parents to encourage our students to adopt qualities of living which lead to success long after formal schooling has ended. These include universally accepted "success orientations" of trustworthiness, kindness/politeness, responsibility, independent endeavor, concern for others, group interaction, and aesthetic appreciation.

For the next five year period, the strategic plan will focus on developing the structure required to  the support and structure to successfully implement the mission of QSI.  The plan is divided into four categories, student learning, international mindedness, resources, physical plant.

3. International Mindedness

4.  Physical Plant

5. International mindedness

As an international school that educates expatriates from several continents, it is imperative that our programs represents our stakeholders and prepares our students to continue their education in their home country or in the country of their choosing. While QSI Shenyang opened its doors in 2012, it did not attract the intended audience and was poised to close its doors in 2017. However, during the 2016-17 school year things changed and QSI Shenyang is bigger and stronger than ever.  A move to a new purpose- built facility has solved some issues, including the points that prevented local licensure in the old buildings. There is still work to be done to create the world class learning institution that is envisioned.

QSI Shenyang is a young school, as such it has requirements locally and internationally that must be met in order to attain sustainability. The school must be granted a Hunnan District License in order to appease the landlord, the stakeholders, and to be taken seriously as an excellent choice for education.  The issues for licensure are included in strategic plan in discussions of resources and the physical plant. Earning accreditation will also be instrumental in assuring the stakeholders and the local community that we are a quality educational institution.

Mastery Learning is the key to the QSI mission statement.  In order to fulfill our mission as a QSI School, our teachers must have excellent teaching credentials and be able to translate their teaching strengths  into successful mastery learning program. Specific professional development must be available each year so that rigor is evident and success orientations are specifically taught and seamlessly included within the curriculum. 

Having adequate resources is a necessity to providing excellent educational opportunities. QSI Shenyang charges tuition that will cover the financial needs of the school in terms of personnel, classroom resources, and the physical plant.  Allocations have been made for payment of loans to QSI Headquarters for the start-up costs and for curriculum, administrative,  and human resource support.  

Another key to being a QSI school is the learning environment. The new building is clean, spacious, and safe, having passed local fire and safety inspections. The furnishings are adequate and the cooling/heating system keeps the building at an acceptable temperature.  The external space is awkwardly cut up and needs to be expanded, but has provided adequate space for recess.  In order to offer more opportunities for sports and outdoor events, the goal is to rent additional space. In the mean time, the                            park across the street can be used for track and running and fitness activities. 

Finally, developing a sense of international mindedness is an important part of this strategic plan. The school attracts students from countries in Europe, Asia and North America and is working to become an active member of the local Shenyang community.  As such, students have the unique opportunity of learning and working with other cultures toward a common goal of educational excellence. By embracing the local community, offering financial and or physical resources to needier members of the community, by acting locally and thinking globally, the students can experience. The goal is to develop a culture of giving and empathy through community outreach and experiential learning. 

The success-oriented QSI Educational Model has Three Core Beliefs:

QSI believes that all students can experience success in their learning including higher order thinking skills such as critical thinking and problem solving.

QSI believes that success breeds success.

QSI believes that it is the school's responsibility to provide the conditions for success.

The students at QSI International School of Shenyang are grouped according to age for their homerooms, but according to ability for Math, Reading and Writing.  As the students are of mixed ability within one room, it is essential that the teacher be cognizant of their learning needs, has the materials to adequately teach and challenge the students, and has assistance in the classroom to provide the individualized attention that goes hand in had with an individualized mastery learning curriculum.

In order to meet the multiple needs of the students, teacher training and professional development is essential.  At the start of each year, the teachers make personal learning goals for their students and make a plan of action as part of their professional performance assessment. This goal and action plan is reviewed with administrator and followed up mid year and year end.  In addition, professional development seminars on Mastery Learning are offered as part of the professional development at the start of each school year.  

To insure student success, some students will need to be moved along more quickly, while others will require reteaching and reassessment. The needs of the students and teachers is assessed/surveyed midyear and year end. Independent performance indicators such at DRA reading assessment and MAP test are utilized 2-3 times per year to insure that each student is making adequate progress at their personal rate of learning. Plans for teacher professional development for the coming years will be based on these assessments.

The success orientations are taught to insure that the students become thoughtful citizens of the world. These are explicitly taught during weekly school assemblies and reinforced within the classrooms.  Students are graded separately for their behavior and attitude via the SO’s each quintile.  Students will exemplary behavior as noticed by peers or teachers are recognized each term

Students who are responsible for their own learning tend to perform better. Therefore, each fall, students set personal learning goals and and action plan.  They collect data and will share their results in the spring at a student led conference. The school year 201-18 is the first that this plan is being implemented. After student led conferences, the plan for the 2018-19 school year will be modified as needed. 

The student population increased nearly 400% in just one year. due to this, a new building was located and refurbished before the 2017-2018 school year began.  With the sudden influx in students, new materials for teaching needed to be procured. to insure a smooth start to the 2017-18 school year.  

QS International School of Shenyang received a loan from her sister school in Chengdu to cover expenses related to finishing the new building. The loan will be repaid in installments over the next 4 years. All other expenditures related to the school including furnishing, purchasing educational resources, paying staff salaries and benefits are covered by income from tuition and fees.  Any surplus will go to pay outstanding loans. 

Enough furniture, textbook and other educational materials were purchased by the start of the current school year.  The strategic plan needs include a system of pre-ordering to maintain base levels of basic materials, maximum on student enrollment for the school and for individual classes, and student teacher ratio.  Budget will including funding to meet the needs of the students to maximize learning. The goals include enlarging the library, specifically chapter books for young readers and expanding the library for middle and high school students. Maintaining adequate math, reading and writing resources. 

Building resources in science and culture studies  so that students have adequate research materials on hand. The music and art departments are new this year and require a broad spectrum of materials. New musical instruments; keyboards and other percussion instruments will become the backbone of the department.  Art supplies to support a variety of mediums and reference material to allow for student research and to support the QSI art curriculum.  PE department requires a broad range of equipment to support student learning all the curricular skills and to support future sports teams. 

Purchasing of new equipment will be prioritized based on curricular needs and student enrollment.  

The building in which QSI International School of Shenyang is housed is a purpose build school with 12 classrooms, a library, lunchroom and common spaces in the open areas that are used for studying and group work. The lunchroom doubles as an indoor play space. Outside, the younger students have a large playlet while the older students have 1/2 sized basketball court. On the compound, students have access to tennis, basketball, and badminton courts, a larger play structure, and indoor badminton, basketball, and  table tennis.  

Currently, 44 students are enrolled, with numbers expected to be stable over the next year. The next influx would come once the school is either accredited by MSA or licensed by the local district; these are the two barriers that we currently face.

Classrooms must have adequate furnishings of the proper size.  1-2 cubbies for each child through age 9, lockers for students age 10 and above. shelves for classroom supplies, classroom library, reading area with rug/couch through age 9. Temperature control in the classrooms to maintain comfortable atmosphere.  

1-2 laptops are available for classroom use and the computer lab has 8 desktops.  Technology is the next area of focus for the classrooms.  During this strategic planning period, 2-3 projectors  will be purchased and installed each year, 4 additional desktops for the computer lab, and replace out dated laptops for teacher and classroom use.  The tech plan describes the priority of purchases and the timeline.  The goal is to maintain adequate technology so that students have access to information and soothes can learn to communicate to a greater audience.

As an international school, which enrolls dependents of expatriates, students are living in a culture different from their home culture.  The QSI Curriculum is designed to develop an awareness of cultural differences through the culture studies program. This school commits to having adequate resources available to allow students to gain an understanding of the world around them. 

In addition, Students of all ages take part in field trips to local and not-so-local destinations.  The goal of leaving the classroom is to experience life as a local- at the fruit market, taking part in festivals, meeting people who do not attend the school. Students age 10 and above are taken further afield to a week without walls, within China, so they can visit cultural relics, learn Chinese History and Culture, and experience independence. During the trips, specific units of study are covered. The trips enhance student learning within the curriculum and success orientations.

Service learning is an area that must be developed during this strategic planning period. The school has developed a relationship with one organization that assists families but must reach out to other local organizations and become a force of good within the local community.  The goal is to establish a longterm relationship with 2-3 organizations that require volunteers and/or fundings so students learn more and become comfortable assisting within the organization.