The ISHCMC Advantage: How Every Child Can Grow and Thrive on Their Journey

“The goal of our school is to focus on inclusive practices where our students' individual learning styles are identified so that their learning journey is enriched,” explained Dr. Hana Adams, the Director of Student Support Services at International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC). The school emphasizes challenging engagements and inquiry-based thinking, and within this rigorous approach, whether ahead or behind their trajectories, some students need additional support to surpass expectations and thrive.

ISHCMC students can reach academic and social well-being goals because growth is carefully assessed and tracked, which allows experts to support and enrich learning. “The way we've developed our support services team is to have a level of expertise so that every child's needs can get met … we have experts on both campuses and dedicated spaces to ensure that all the childrens’ learning is enhanced and then, when needed, specific students get the extra level of support and enrichment that they need,” said Dr. Hana.

How Student Growth is Monitored

To ensure students are provided learning materials and enrichment opportunities that allow them to surpass expectations, academic and well-being growth must be monitored. The holistic monitoring method involves key formative and summative assessment periods, learning update reports, routine collaborative care conversations with the academic and pastoral teams, consultation with parents, observations of the student in their learning environment both in and out of the classroom, data collection, and standard assessments.

When each student begins their studies at ISHCMC, academic benchmarks are created that account for the child’s unique skills, abilities, and background. These outlines of a student’s current level allow teachers to devise lessons and instructions to support individual growth and success. The progress is then monitored in several ways, including rubrics applied to each learning cycle as part of ISHCMC’s continuum IB offering of International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP), Middle Years Programme (IB MYP), and Degree Program (IBDP). Data from formative and summative assessments is mapped to individual growth profiles, enabling timely and targeted support.

In addition to these empirical methods, students’ academic and well-being growth is carefully observed. Deep knowledge of each student enables the school’s educators to promptly provide targeted support or extend learning opportunities as needed. At ISHCMC, strong partnerships between families and the school, along with a nurturing classroom culture, ensure every student is recognized as an individual and supported to thrive.

Devising Effective, Personalized Strategies for Support and Enrichment

When a teacher recognizes that a student would benefit from alterations to their learning plans, whether providing additional enrichment or support, an organized response is swiftly implemented. For example, a subject teacher may meet with their department lead to review a student's results and determine differentiated supports for the subject. The teacher could also make a referral to the student support services team. Depending on the situation, the support services team will meet with the teacher and start to gather information about the student across subjects to better pinpoint needs. Strategies to address the situation will be devised, allowing time to monitor progress. 

Families are involved in this process early on to ensure a holistic understanding of the child’s school and home life. Strategies such as supporting the child's time management or organization skills will be shared with parents so they can support their child at home. Close communication empowers children to foster their sense of inquiry, independence, and agency as the core adults around them are focused on similar goals. Families are also encouraged to create a supportive environment at home where children can openly share their learning, achievements, and successes in school.

ISHCMC’s intentionally low student-to-teacher ratio allows personalized support to take place within the classroom, without disrupting the flow of learning. Rather than pulling students out of class, support is often delivered during regular lessons, whether through an additional teacher working closely with a student during a group activity or a dedicated support aide providing targeted, tiered interventions. This in-class model helps maintain a cohesive, inclusive learning environment while ensuring that every student, whether needing a challenge or extra guidance, receives the individual attention they need to thrive

How Specialists Shape Personalized and Inclusive Learning at ISHCMC

ISHCMC is able to meet and often exceed every student’s learning needs thanks to its exceptionally skilled and fully embedded team of specialists. “One of the things our school has that many others don’t is in-house clinicians,” explains Dr. Hana Adams, Director of Student Support Services. “We have full-time specialists on staff, including a speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist, who are deeply involved in daily school life.

These professionals do more than respond to challenges; they actively shape learning environments. For example, the speech and language therapist works closely with Early Years teachers, equipping them with strategies to better understand and engage with children who are not yet verbal. This proactive collaboration enhances every child’s learning experience, not just those receiving direct services.

Working in tandem with classroom teachers across all grade levels, the support services team helps foster an inclusive culture grounded in individual care, early intervention, and high expectations. Through ongoing professional development, co-planning, and input into classroom design and learning strategies, these experts ensure that ISHCMC classrooms are dynamic, accessible, and responsive to diverse learning needs, so that every student is set up to succeed from the start.

A Culture of Care that Drives Confidence and Excellence

At ISHCMC, a deeply embedded culture of care ensures that every student is known, supported, and empowered to thrive. The visibility and collaboration of the school’s expert support services team make it clear that seeking help, whether academic, social, or emotional, is not only accepted but encouraged. Students are taught that asking for support is a strength, and because this mindset is normalized, they feel confident taking ownership of their well-being and learning.

This culture is reinforced by Positive ISHCMC (POSISH), a school-wide initiative embedded into daily life. POSISH delivers regular lessons and workshops on topics such as digital citizenship, safety, positive relationships, and comprehensive sexual education. By proactively addressing real-world issues within a caring and inclusive framework, POSISH helps students develop strong social-emotional awareness and self-advocacy skills. Because the program is fully integrated into the curriculum, teachers and students alike have the flexibility to explore timely topics while maintaining academic momentum.

This whole-child approach complements ISHCMC’s inquiry-based IB education where students consistently achieve exceptional academic outcomes. IB scores are far above the global average, MAP scores place ISHCMC in the top 1% worldwide, and graduates are accepted into the world’s most competitive universities,  including Oxford, the London School of Economics, University of Melbourne, Seoul National University, Harvard, and Yale. To benefit from this world-class education, students are supported and challenged as individuals. Because their growth trajectory is closely monitored and expert-led responses are quickly implemented, ISHCMC students not only meet but consistently exceed academic and social well-being expectations, becoming confident, capable learners prepared for success anywhere in the world.

Behind these results is a school-wide commitment to seeing each child as an individual. Students’ growth is continuously monitored, and tailored support or enrichment is implemented the moment it’s needed. As a result, ISHCMC students don’t just meet expectations they consistently exceed them, emerging as confident, capable learners prepared to lead and succeed on a global stage.