Making a Global Impact Through SISU Schools®
By Tom Hawkins, M.A., Ed.D., Vice President of School Start-Ups and School Management
As the pandemic forced all of us to re-think approaches and educational offerings, ISS and Lumo Education initiated a collaboration to launch a new line of mid-tier international schools: SISU Schools®.
The Beginnings
In 2016, Aki Halko founded Lumo Education along with Salla Halko, Kaisu Helminen, Esa Sinivuori and Sanna de Araújo. Having previously worked at schools in Finland and the Middle East, the five saw the value of their experiences and the market possibilities for Finnish international schools. Lumo Education was founded to offer world-class educational solutions to students and families around the world emphasizing the Finnish pedagogy and approach.
When Aki met then-Vice President of ISS Schools Startups and Management, Dr. Dick Moore, they knew something great could happen.
“In SISU Schools, we wanted to create a school model that makes starting and transforming world class schools simple and easy,” describes Sanna de Araújo, Head of School Concepts, Lumo Education. “Our ISS-Lumo team is committed to annually develop the concept further for the benefit of our school owners, teachers and, most of all children.”
The Unique SISU Schools Model
SISU Schools is a globalized education program following Finnish, American and international standards. SISU Schools incorporates an entrepreneurial approach to learning that prepares children for success and promotes overall happiness. The SISU Program is a K-12 program that can be deployed in any country and in any language. The SISU Program prepares children for any school path and most of all, for life.
The key differentiator for SISU Schools is that ISS-Lumo provide the curriculum, training, pedagogical approaches, software, branding, handbooks, policies, support and quality assurance program necessary to start a school at nearly any price point.
All the “deliverables” for the school are provided via a customized platform, and the training of teachers and staff can be done remotely, allowing school owners to keep costs low, quality high, and the focus on the children with continuous support from the ISS-Lumo team.
A Growing Global Reach
Launched in early 2021, SISU Schools connected with its first licensee to open a school in August of 2021: SISU School Punta Cana. Since April, ISS and Lumo have licensed four additional schools to individuals or groups in Mongolia, The Netherlands, Iraq, and most recently in Kazakhstan (an existing K-11 school implementing the SISU Schools program).
SISU School Punta Cana
School location: Punta Cana, a premier resort destination in the Caribbean, located at the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic
About the School: Opened with enrollment for a SISU Kids program, with visions of a larger K-12 school
Opening: September 2021
Founding Quotes: “We are thrilled how popular our school has become in such a short time. The demand for expanding the school faster than we anticipated has been a great surprise. SISU Schools has truly delivered its value for children in Punta Cana. The teachers and us owners have been supported all the way by ISS-Lumo, and implementation of the SISU School model has been smooth.” -Gordana Stojanovic, CEO of Centro Educativo Ikigai and co-founder of SISU School Punta Cana
SISU School Ulaanbataar
School location: Park Garden, a downtown region of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
About the School: First providing enrollment for Early Years through Grade 9 and will gradually expand to Grade 12; offering a unique program bilingually in English and Mongolian
Scheduled Opening: September 2022
Founding Quotes: “We are confident that the SISU way of promoting entrepreneurial mindset and growth to students at an earlier stage of their lives and making their happiness the priority, will be essential to our future generations to create the best versions of themselves.” -Khulan Bayarsaikhan, spokesperson for Metro Development Group (MDG), owners of SISU School Ulaanbaatar
In addition to the schools licensed to begin operations in the coming months, negotiations are underway for more SISU Schools® in Mexico, the U.S., and other locales around the world.
ISS and Lumo Education believe that SISU Schools can transform the learning landscape. We look forward to proving quality education at an affordable price to allow entrepreneurs, companies, foundations and committed individuals to make an impact in their communities.
Visit sisuschools.com to learn more about SISU Schools. You can follow Tom on Linkedin.
This article was originally published in the January 2022 edition of ISS Newslinks.