Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Overseas School of Colombo: 2023-2024 Fact Sheet

The Overseas School of Colombo (OSC) is an independent, co-educational day school offering a high-quality educational program from early years to grade 12 for students of all nationalities. The school was founded in 1957. The school year comprises of two semesters from August to December, and from January to June. Applications for admission are accepted throughout the year. The school offers a holistic approach to delivering its educational programs, a strong university preparatory program, varied extracurricular and robust service programs, and has a caring and enthusiastic teaching staff.

Organization: OSC is a not-for-profit organization and is governed by a seven-elected parent board who serve to support the Head of School ensuring that the school is well positioned for a bright future. The Head of School is a non-voting board member and is the Chief Administrator (Executive Officer).

Curriculum: The curriculum offered is the International Baccalaureate (IB). The school runs all three IB programs, Primary Years Program (PYP), Middle Years Program (MYP) and Diploma Program (DP). OSC also integrates the American Education Reaches Out (AERO) standards, Common Core, and other international and relevant standards to ensure its curriculum and scope and sequence is well organized and builds on from one year to the next. In grades 9-12 students gain credits towards the OSC high school Diploma. OSC is a College Board Testing site. OSC administers the PSAT, SAT, as well as other external and standardized testing such as Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), International School Assessment (ISA) and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) throughout the school. OSC offers specialist classes such as yearlong swimming, music, art, drama and performance, design, and offers language acquisition classes in Sinhala, French, Mandarin, and Spanish. All IB courses are credit bearing for the high school diploma. OSC students are further supported by three full time counselors, one who is a licensed school psychologist. OSC teaches all students digital citizenship skills and concepts, covers all approaches to learning skills, and follows the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework in delivering positive discipline through its social and emotional learning framework. The OSC teaching staff integrate technology seamlessly and teach the design model of thinking primary through secondary.

Faculty: In the 2022-2023 school year, OSC has 123 total staff including 55 teachers, 11 of whom are U.S. citizens, 10 host-country nationals, and 34 third-country nationals. Our faculty and staff represent 16 countries: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, France, India, Ireland, Kenya, Korea, Mozambique, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Kingdom and the United States. All teaching faculty maintain a teaching certificate and university degree registered from their countries of origin, are vetted carefully with background checks and are trained in strict child safeguarding measures.

Enrollment: At the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, enrollment was 309 (PK-grade 5:141; grades 6-8: 68; and grades 9-12: 100). Of the total, 72 were U.S. citizens, 54 were host-country nationals, and 183 were third-country nationals.

Facilities: The school is in a purpose-built facility on a five-acre site near the parliamentary complex in the new administrative capital of Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte. It is equipped with five main buildings offering a total of 51 general classrooms, four science laboratories, two multipurpose rooms, specialist rooms for art, drama and music, and two learning resource centers with over 25,000 volumes as well as extensive online resources and student computers. The sports facilities include a large double gymnasium, outdoor basketball court, a playing field which provides for a range of team and individual sports and a 25-meter swimming pool with a pavilion for spectators. There is an arts center, including a 450-seat auditorium which also serves as a flexible multi-purpose use space, teaching studio (salon) and experimental theatre (black box).

Finances: In the 2023-2024 school year, annual tuition rates are as follows: early years: $12,960; K: $19,520; 1-5: $23,050; 6-8: $ 24,200; 9-12: $27,840. The school also charges a one-time, non-refundable registration fee as follows: early years: $2,000; K: $7,500; 1-12: $15,000. An operational levy of $1,250 is also payable per semester. All fees are quoted in U.S. Dollars.

Special Needs: Review the Special Needs Profile for this school to learn more about their capability to support students with exceptionalities.

This Fact Sheet is intended to provide general information. Prospective users of the schools may wish to inquire further of A/OPR/OS or contact the school directly for more specific and up-to-the-minute information. Information and statistics are current as of September 2023 and are provided by the school.