UPPER LOOP

INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL IN BANGKOK

Upper Loop Learners studying our international high school curriculum in Bangkok are future ready to take on the new careers of tomorrow with high-impact Process Portfolios that showcase their skills, strengths, and experiences.

In our Upper Loop (Grade 9 - Grade 12), we help learners fuel their creativity to engage and build the inner confidence to become self-directed learners.

Learners can select projects and courses that satisfy graduation requirements while also allowing them to dive deeply into exciting subjects and disciplines.

UPPER LOOP

Inspired by Stanford d.school, the foundation of learning in the Upper Loop is built upon the following:

Connected Collaboration

Learners work with a cohort of peers, Learning Designers, staff, and community mentors as part of our senior high school American curriculum, to challenge their ideas and push their design practice outside of their comfort zone. We seek to connect people of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives in order to provide a holistic driver to our design process.

Real-Life Issues

The assignments and projects in our American international high school in Bangkok are designed to center around real-world challenges and are structured to allow learners to be creative and incorporate their personal interests. We continuously build a network of partners and experts to bring these projects to life. 

Unbounded Challenges

Our learners are encouraged to take creative risks in their projects and learn how to learn from setbacks.  In the contemporary world, problems have multiple solutions depending on the chosen priorities and perspective. Learners need to develop the skill set to design and evaluate the most balanced and viable solution for complex and ambiguous problems that involve multiple stakeholders and perspectives. 

Opt-in School Culture

A design school is messy, iterative, challenging, and transformative, which is not everyone’s cup of tea, and that is OK. The staff and learners who join the VERSO international high school Bangkok program need to be eager to explore and possess a positive solution-seeking mindset in order to be happy and successful within our program.

Duke of Edinburgh's International Award

Get ready to unlock your potential with the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award program at VERSO! This globally recognized program empowers young people aged 14-25 to set and achieve goals in service, physical recreation, skills, and adventurous journeys.

At VERSO, we're proud to offer this prestigious award, celebrating commitment, dedication, and personal growth. It's not just an award – it's a journey of self-discovery and accomplishment that builds character, develops leadership skills, and fosters a sense of responsibility and resilience.

Participants can tailor their journey by selecting objectives in each of the following areas:

Service: Make a difference in your community with 12 months of service.

Physical Recreation: Achieve new heights of fitness over 12 or 6 months.

Skills: Cultivate your passions and talents with hands-on learning over 12 or 6 months.

Adventurous Journeys: Dive into the great outdoors with a thrilling 4-day expedition.

Residential (Gold Level): Take it to the next level with a 5-day residential experience away from home.

Join us in embracing the adventure of a lifetime! The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award is more than just a program; it's a pathway to personal excellence and community impact. Together, let's embark on this exciting journey, pushing boundaries, making memories, and shaping a brighter future!

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Graduation Requirements

Upper Loop learners normally attend 4 academic years and must earn a minimum of 22 Carnegie Credits to graduate with a VERSO High School Diploma in accordance with New York State Learning Standards guidelines.  

Learners with a Thai passport must also meet the Ministry of Education's Thai language requirement, giving them a minimum total of 25 Carnegie Credits, with 4 credits achieved through Thai language courses.

English                                      4 credits
Mathematics                            3 credits
Science                                      3 credits
Social Studies                           4 credits
World Languages                    1 credit
Physical & Health Education  2.5 credits
Arts                                            1 credit
Electives                                    3.5 credits

Minimum Requirement:  22 credits

In addition, graduates must complete or showcase: 

  • a VERTEX Project: Each learner in Grade 12 must complete and present a year-long independent research project, culminating in a 4000-word essay
  • the Senior Design Thesis, which is an opportunity for learners to bring their VERTEX essays to life. Over three months, they design their own Learning Lab, converting their research and investigation conducted in their VERTEX into a tangible performance, product, or service. This process bridges theory and knowledge, allowing learners to apply their theoretical understanding to real-world applications
  • the uniVERSOlly Well Program: Concurrently with their academic studies, each year each learner must complete the uniVERSOlly Well Program, which has 2 main components: 
    • positive psychology, mental health, and
    • university/college and career exploration and preparation
  • the development of a Personal Brand Identity through a cohesive personal design language demonstrated in both a portfolio website and resume/CV to showcase their professional and personal identity
  • a demonstration of their ability to innovate and execute their ideas effectively

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Download VERSO High School Profile 2024-2025

Elements of Learning

Our Upper Loop learners have the opportunity to design their personal pathway through a mixture of interdisciplinary projects and specific course offerings.

Learning Lab projects are interdisciplinary projects that follow a Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Inquiry-Based Learning approach.  They are run for 12 weeks (10 hours a week), 3 times a year, and combine disciplines across Humanities, Arts, and Sciences. Learners connect their learning to the real world by regularly engaging in Beyond the Walls [BTW] excursions  in which we take the learners off campus and out into the city to meet with local professionals, experts, university professors, and entrepreneurs.

Explores are elective deep dives of a shorter duration, and include options such as Performing & Fine Arts, Humanities, Sciences & Engineering & Robotics. Throughout these projects, learners document new understanding, challenges, and successes that they experience throughout this pursuit. Learners have the choice to design personal projects or partake in an instructor-led project which aims to develop a specific skill. They are required to find a mentor for each project and the duration of projects can be from a few weeks to a semester in length. Learners are assessed  on the various Future Ready Skills (FRS) embedded in the Explore projects.

Power Hour (Physical Well-being) is a holistic program that focuses on the incorporation of fitness, physical education, health, and hygiene into daily life. Learners participate in Power Hour weekly throughout their time at VERSO.

UniVERSOlly Well (uW) is a combination of the following topics: positive psychology, mental health, university / career exploration and preparation, and life skills. This on-going program aims to support learners to develop a deeper understanding of self, build resilience, strengthen social-emotional intelligence, and discover passions. 

conVERSO is VERSO’s personalized Advisory Program, in which our Learning Designers provide one to one pastoral and academic coaching sessions with our learners. Each learner is matched up with a Learning Designer who is responsible for guiding the learner through their Upper Loop learning journey.

Specific Advanced Placement (AP) courses are available for learners who wish to supplement their personalized pathway using university-level material through single subject courses.  

Those learners who score well on the AP exams may receive university credit at the discretion of individual colleges and universities.  

Our current AP offerings include the following STEAM based courses:

  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • 2D Art & Design
  • 3D Art & Design
  • Drawing
  • Statistics
  • Precalculus
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Bridging History and Science

By Cohort 9-10 Learners

BRID

Bridging Confinement

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UL Winter Showtime 2023-2024

Showcased the Semester 1 projects

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