International Schools of North America - Saigon South Campus (SNA)
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam · est. 2005 · PrivateKey facts
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationACS WASC · accreditationInternational Schools of North America (SNA) · school is part of the networkNguyen Hoang Group · school is part of the networkWhat stands behind each entry
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything else.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →An American regional accreditation of the institution, working since 1962 and covering some 5,500 schools in California, the Pacific and Asia. It judges the whole school: a self-study, then a team visit. It gives the same status to supplementary and virtual programmes, so the category of an entry is worth checking separately.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →International Schools of North America, SNA for short, is a school brand and system within the Nguyen Hoang group: its own site calls it a member of the group outright, and the site of the second campus describes that campus as the result of a collaboration between the American Marianapolis Preparatory School and the Nguyen Hoang group. Neither of the sites draws a distinction between ownership, management and franchise. The year of foundation is 2005. There are two campuses. The first, Saigon South, has worked in Ho Chi Minh City since 2005, teaching grades 1 to 12, with the full IB continuum - PYP, MYP and DP; the site states that in 2022 the school became the sixth in Vietnam with authorisation for the whole continuum, and names membership of CIS and WASC. The second, SNA Marianapolis, opened in 2021 in Bien Hoa in Dong Nai province, is called the first fully international school in the province and the second branch of Marianapolis Preparatory School; its programme is American with AP courses, not IB. The SNA site describes the stages as running from pre-school to upper secondary school, while the group's site speaks of teaching from grade 1 to grade 12; we give both. The language of instruction is English.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Nguyen Hoang Group, in Vietnamese Tập đoàn Nguyễn Hoàng, is a Vietnamese private education group founded in 1999, with its head office in Ho Chi Minh City. Its own site describes it as having grown into an investment institution working in three directions: education, healthcare and technology. The members section lists nine members. Five universities: Hong Bang International University (1997), Hoa Sen University (1991), Gia Dinh University, Ba Ria-Vung Tau University (2006) and Mien Dong Technology University (2013). Three school systems: International Schools of North America (2005, grades 1 to 12), the bilingual UK Academy (2016, from kindergarten to secondary school) and iSchool (2008, sites in 14 provinces and cities, some 48,500 pupils). Plus the charitable foundation Bông Hồng Nhỏ. The site gives no overall number of schools, campuses or pupils for the group. It does not separate ownership, management and franchise: the members of the group are called simply members, and the legal form of the connection is not described.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.