It started with one campus in Gunungpati.
Semesta School Gunungpati is the oldest: founded in May 1999, admitting girls since 2002, and an SPK school since 2015.
Timeline
- 1999
Semesta School Gunungpati opens in May — the oldest campus, at first admitting boys only, on a national-plus curriculum.
- 2002
Semesta Junior High begins admitting girls.
- 2004
Construction of the girls' boarding house begins.
- 2005
School year 2005/2006: Semesta Senior High begins admitting girls, as the girls' boarding house opens.
- 2010
Semesta Primary School opens in Srondol, the second Semesta school.
- 2013
Construction begins on a combined girls' boarding house for junior and senior high, east of the girls' school building.
- 2014
The combined girls' boarding house opens; the old girls' boarding house becomes a girls-only school building.
- 2015
Becomes a Joint Cooperation School (SPK) under Ministry of Education Regulation No. 31 of 2014.
- 2016
The role of Education Coordinator is taken on by the Senior High principal.
- 2017
Officially adopts the Cambridge curriculum (ID244) and launches the Technology Integrated Classroom with Microsoft Surface.
- 2018
Moves to Google for Education and Chromebooks; the Junior High and Senior High principal roles are split in two.
- 2019
Semesta School Campus 3 opens in Jangli.
Three campuses, one oldest school
- 1999 Campus 1 · Gunungpati Junior & Senior High, boarding This campus
- 2010 Campus 2 · Srondol Semesta Primary School
- 2019 Campus 3 · Jangli Playgroup, Kindergarten & Semesta 2 Junior High
Today Semesta School runs on three separate campuses: Semesta Bilingual Boarding School, with junior and senior high, in Gunungpati; Semesta Primary School in Srondol; and Semesta 2, with playgroup, kindergarten, and junior high, in Jangli. Semesta School Gunungpati is the oldest, founded in May 1999. Semesta Primary School, the second, opened in 2010. Semesta School Campus 3, often called Semesta Jangli, opened in 2019.
Semesta Bilingual Boarding School, better known as Semesta School Gunungpati, is run under the Al Firdaus Foundation. At first the school admitted boys only. That changed in 2002, when Semesta Junior High began admitting girls, and in the 2005/2006 school year Semesta Senior High did the same. This came with the opening of the girls' boarding house, built from 2004; in 2014 that building became a girls-only school building. Junior high boys were housed in a single-storey boarding house north of the senior high boys' boarding house, and junior high girls in a single-storey boarding house north of the junior high boys'. In 2013 a combined girls' boarding house for junior and senior high began going up east of the girls' school building, and it opened in 2014.
From national plus to SPK and Cambridge
When it opened, Semesta School Gunungpati was a national school on a "national plus" curriculum, usually understood as the national curriculum enriched with international content. That content meant using the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) standard for English, and teaching Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology in English. In 2015 Semesta School became a Joint Cooperation School (SPK) under Ministry of Education Regulation No. 31 of 2014, which required it to partner with a foreign education body as its curriculum provider. In 2017 Semesta School officially adopted the Cambridge curriculum from Cambridge International Examinations, under centre number ID244. That same year the school began using digital technology in class, which we call the Technology Integrated Classroom. The first device used was Microsoft's Surface tablet. In 2018 Semesta School moved to the Google for Education ecosystem with Chromebooks. The first Chromebook was the Acer Chromebook Flip R11; today students use the Asus Chromebook Flip C214MA.
A history of leadership
The history of Semesta School Gunungpati is also a history of its leadership. Leadership at Semesta School is made up of the General Manager, who represents the foundation, the Principal, the Education Coordinator, and the Director of Guidance. From 1999 to 2016 the only changes were in who held each role. In 2016 the Education Coordinator role, until then held by one person, was taken on by the Senior High principal. Then in 2018 the single principal for junior and senior high was split into two roles: Junior High Principal and Senior High Principal.
This page carries over the History page from the old site. The list of leaders by period did not come across, as it was stored as an image in the old WordPress install.