School Profile

Nansha College Preparatory Academy (NCPA) is a private, co-educational, American curriculum boarding school operated in partnership with ULink Education Group and the non-profit, Princeton-based International Schools Services (ISS). We occupy a modern, purpose-built 31-acre campus. We are an English-medium school serving Chinese national students.

All NCPA faculty are native-level English speakers, with the exception of the Chinese language teachers. All of the content-area faculty hold North American diplomas and licensure. 75% of our faculty hold advanced degrees, including 4 with doctorates.

Nansha College Preparatory Academy is a learning community that empowers students to achieve academic and social excellence. NCPA is an English-language immersion school that prepares students for success in higher learning. We educate students to become effective negotiators, collaborative learners, resourceful planners and principled achievers.

NCPA teachers are native English speakers and deliver all courses in the English language; our Chinese Language courses are the sole exception.   We are a school of innovation in China and adhere to a language immersion model grounded on Stanford University’s “Six Principles of English Language Learning.”  Our English immersion program prioritizes the acquisition of academic language across the curriculum and it is what distinguishes us from any other international-style school serving local nationals in China.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has granted NCPA full accreditation status.

English is the instructional language for all classes, except Chinese Literature. Teachers across the disciplines use research-based approaches and embedded language learning strategies to enable students to access grade-level content while helping them develop academic English proficiency. The curriculum is aligned to U.S. standards including the Common Core State Standards.

NCPA students are involved in activities that cultivate lifelong habits in physical health, personal and interpersonal skills, and connectedness to faculty and peers.
• Our holistic curriculum includes 27 elective courses offered across all departments.
• Our grade 7-10 students meet every other day in small groups with their faculty advisors. Juniors and seniors are scheduled into semester-long seminar classes with their counselors.
• Our ASA program boasts over 200 activities including Model UN, Yearbook, Student Government, FBLA, National Honor Society and Tri-M Honor Society; and 24 competitive team sports and intramurals.

NCPA students must complete 8 credits annually. All students must pass a minimum of 4 A.P. courses, one in each core content area. A.P. courses are open to all students and most take 7 A.P. courses over four years.NCPA is an A.P Capstone school.

NCPA is a standards-based reporting school where teachers assess knowledge and skills through a set of benchmarks across the academic year. Official report card marks are given at the end of the year. At the end of Semester 1, teachers in year-long courses report only a student’s progress to date in relation to that year’s set of standards and benchmarks.

Students’ yearly levels of achievement are reported on the following scale:
• Exemplary (E) – The student demonstrates evidence of thorough understanding of the required knowledge and skills and the ability to apply them consistently in a wide variety of situations.
• Proficient (P) – The student demonstrates consistent evidence of understanding and/or application of the required knowledge and skills of the standard.
• Approaching (A) – The student demonstrates partial or inconsistent evidence of understanding and/or application of the required knowledge and skills of the standard.
• Not Yet (N) – The student demonstrates minimal understanding and/or application of the required knowledge and skills of the standard.

4.0    English
4.0    Social Studies
4.0    Mathematics
4.0    Science
4.0    Chinese
3.0    Fine/Performing Arts
2.0    Health & PE
1.0    Seminar
6.0    Electives
32.0 Total Credits

➜ 16 AP course offerings: Art: Draw & 2D, Biology, Calculus AB & BC, Chemistry, Computer Science A, English Language, Environmental Science, Human Geography, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics 1, Statistics, and Seminar. A.P. Research new for 2020.
➜ 261 students sat for 624 exams.
➜ Our mean AP exam score across all current programs was 3.0; 63% of our 2019 examinees earned a “3” or more.
➜ 73% of the Class of 2019 earned a “3” or more on at least one AP exam.
➜ 43% of the class earned AP Awards.

NCPA computes a weighted grade point average. The weighted average includes all courses taken at NCPA and counts year-end course grades based on their level, according to the system below.

*Updated August 2019.

There were 115 graduates in 2019 and 100% of NCPA college applicants received acceptances.
Select University Acceptances . Student Matriculated . 2 or More Students Matriculated