Although the school at King's Road was built under the leadership of James Aven, he only spent two months as principal at the new site. He did preside over the first class to graduate in the new auditorium in July 1962 before returning to the United States. Dr. Harold Elsbree, who came to King's Road after a 35-year career as teacher, administrator and academic in the United States and overseas, led the school for the next five years. When he arrived in 1962, the school had 302 students representing 17 nationalities. When he left in 1967, there were 557 students from 22 nations. Within two years of moving to King's Road, the school had to build again, adding 12 new classrooms, a cafeteria and a PE office. These additions completed the originally planned 600-student school. R.B. Cavaness, a school board member at the time, remembers how many community members scoffed at the possibility of a school for 600 students. Given the turmoil that Singapore experienced between 1955 and 1965, the skepticism was probably not unreasonable. The school was fortunate that its board saw beyond the pessimism of some in the community. In Elsbree's first three years, SAS retained many of the attributes of the original school. The headmaster was a one-man show — K-12 administrator, guidance counselor, disciplinarian and father figure. The student body was small, and many parents still taught classes. As the school grew, Dr. Maynard Catchings was hired as high school guidance counselor in 1965, and a year later Dr. Harry Barteau came to the school from Taipei American School to serve as the first high school principal. Barteau succeeded Elsbree as headmaster in 1967 and became the school's first superintendent when the post was created in 1968.
Barteau was head of the school until 1969. During his tenure, the school was redeveloped. In 1968, the Balestier Memorial Gymnasium opened, named after the first American Consul to Singapore in 1837. For the first time SAS students could plan basketball and volleyball games without the threat of rain. A new library and 12 additional classrooms were also added. The entire school was air-conditioned, and classes were 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. By the time Dr. Jack McLeod took over in 1969, the school had over 900 students and was running two sessions a day in the lower grades. Between 1968 and 1976, the school met incredible challenges. It grew at an unbelievable pace from 750 students in 1968 to over 1,500 in 1971, when it split into three separate facilities. A former British army primary school at Alexandra and the nearby Gillman Barracks were turned over to SAS by the Singapore government. These became schools for grades K-6, and grades 7-12 remained at King's Road. The government made land available for a new school, between a garbage dump and a cemetery, and the school began to build its Ulu Pandan campus for the elementary and middle schools.
Above left: Dr and Mrs. Elsbree in 1967. Above right: Senior class officers 1965-66. From left: Jim Baker, Joubert Kristoffersen, Eric Lapp. Below right: Senior English class 1964. Teacher Mrs. Rose Catchings taught all English classes at the high schoolfor six years.
THE MOVE TO KING'S ROAD 53