About Us
Maple Bear schools offer full Canadian programs utilizing Canadian methodology and curriculum developed by our own experts from the ground up for preschool, elementary, and high school. We take our responsibility to our students and their parents very seriously. Strict quality controls ensure we deliver the very best Canadian practices in education.
There are currently more than 65,605 students in 467 Maple Bear Early Childhood, Elementary, and High Schools operating or opening in Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Brazil, China (Mainland and Hong Kong (SAR)), Czech Republic, Guatemala, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Türkiye, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. We will be opening soon in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Greece, and Iraq.
Offering a rigorous program utilising Canadian methodology and curriculum, Maple Bear has been developed ground up by Canadian teaching experts and refined by Education Ambassador, Mrs. Patricia Koh, who was the Head of the Early Childhood Department at the then Institute of Education (now known as National Institute of Education) from 1978 to 1987.
Awarded the “Best in Early Years Education Programme” consecutively in 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, and most recently listed “Best of Singapore 2022” by Tatler Asia and “Best Preschool in Singapore” by Honeykids Asia in 2022, Maple Bear understands the importance and benefits of raising a bilingual child.
Using our signature bilingual immersion methodology, our programme incorporates a progressive language structure that encourages children to speak, read and write in both English and Mandarin as well as their respective native languages. The Maple Bear early childhood program is carefully designed: daily routines, activity centres, and the way children acquire knowledge. The program allows children to create, explore, discover, and it offers many opportunities to develop their social, emotional, motor, language, and cultural skills.
Maple Bear Asiawide Executive Team
Patricia Koh
Chief Executive & Education Ambassador
Prior to the founding of Maple Bear Singapore in 2013, Mrs Patricia Koh was the Managing Director with Knowledge Universe, a company based in the USA looking after a very successful preschool brand she created in 1988. During that period, Patricia also headed the Early Childhood Department at the National Institute of Education (then known as the Teachers’ Training College). Besides being recognized as a well-loved lecturer, she was also appointed as President of the Pre-School Teachers’ Association from 1977 to 1993.
Patricia is well recognized for her passion in raising the standards in the way children learn. Being a leading educator with more than 40 years of experience, Patricia is also highly sought after for her expertise as a speaker at events and advisor at early learning centres in the US, UK, Australia and the region. Not only is she an amazing teacher and lecturer, she is also a self-made publisher and has published over 50 children’s stories and music books over the last 30 years. Her mission now is to continue making more stories come alive in all Maple Bear schools in Singapore and Asia.
At Maple Bear Singapore, Mrs Koh is fully involved in overseeing curriculum development, teacher selection & training, learning environment design, as well as parenting guidance. Her involvement ensures that the Maple Bear program is specifically designed for our children here in Singapore. With her guidance, we are sure that every child who comes to Maple Bear will have a wonderful learning experience and a solid foundation laid for their future years.
Adrian Fong
Chief Financial Officer
The Chief Financial Officer at Maple Bear Singapore, Mr Adrian Fong oversees the company's financial matters, as well as regional business development.
A Chartered Accountant (CA Singapore), Mr Fong graduated with a Bachelor of Accountancy from the National University of Singapore and thereafter obtained his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Queensland, Australia.
After spending 15 years in various Finance and Regional Treasury roles at several large multi-national companies, including DuPont and Caltex, Mr Fong ventured out as an entrepreneur in the preschool industry. His deep and rich experience in the education business began in 2002, when he started a preschool in association with a very successful preschool brand founded by Mrs Patricia Koh, the current Chief Executive and Education Ambassador of Maple Bear Singapore.
A keen supporter of Mrs Patricia Koh’s vision for quality preschools in Singapore and the region, he partnered her to bring the Maple Bear brand to Singapore in 2013.
Maple Bear Global Faculty
Giving Back
At Maple Bear, we believe that quality Canadian education can bring positive change in the world by educating future leaders to be critical thinkers and imbuing them with a strong sense of social justice and global citizenship.
As part of this commitment, Maple Bear Singapore believes in giving back to the community by fundraising for local initiatives impacting education, children and families. To date, Maple Bear Singapore is a proud supporter and benefactor of Singapore Cancer Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children’s Wishing Well and Singapore Children’s Society.
2019 – A celebration involving all Maple Bear preschools in Singapore saw more than 2000 children and their families gather at Yishun Stadium on 4 October 2019 as they participated in a marathon of hope for a brighter future. Maple Bear Singapore families raised over $102,000 in funds for the Singapore Cancer Society through the Little Fox Run charity drive.
2020 – Our fund-raising efforts took shape in a different form this year as 3,000 children participated in a range of activities from bake sales, painting, and mini-marathons. They proudly raised $107,777 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Children’s Wishing Well to help make the wishes of those in need come true.
2021 – The fundraising event in 2021 once again exceeded expectations, with Maple Bear Singapore raising $125,000 to make a positive impact on families of the Singapore Children’s Society. Maple Bear cubs created Shoebox stories and donors who exceeded the minimum contribution received an exclusive edition of the Maple Bear 8th Anniversary commemorative book.
2022 – Maple Bear Singapore kicked off our Terry Fox Charity Run with the theme, “The Amazing Race”. Our tiny tots raced, jumped, and laughed through mini-races across our schools with incredible enthusiasm. Together we raised $161,321 for the Singapore Children’s Cancer Foundation while empowering our children to be positive change makers.
2023 – The Terry Fox Charity Carnival themed “A Zoological Fantasy” raised over $180,000 for the Singapore Cancer Society. Our Charity Carnival on 15 July 2023 was attended by more than 500 Maple Bear families who had a great time enjoying the carnival games, exciting activities and performances by our Principals and teachers from all our Maple Bear schools!
2024 – With this year’s theme, “Be an Olympian”, we set out to inspire our young children to be little Olympians of change for our annual Terry Fox fundraiser. The event was a spectacular success with $200,200 raised for the Singapore Cancer Society, highlighting the power of community in the fight against cancer. Bringing together 56 Maple Bear schools, 6000 children, and 12000 parents for our Olympic finale, our participants demonstrated sportsmanship, teamwork and tenacious spirit in our sporting challenges, all for a good cause.
In addition to charity work, the Maple Bear curriculum incorporates themes of social responsibility and community service so that students at Maple Bear schools are exposed to the concept and undertake age-appropriate activities. The goal is to turn a whole generation of students on to the joy of giving back.