Kolej Yayasan Saad was established in 1995 by Tan Sri Halim Saad. It began with his personal conviction to build a school to provide quality secondary education for the potentially quality Bumiputera students of diverse background. The establishment of KYS is also his expression in paying tribute to his late father and a contribution back to society. With his personal revenues lay ready to hand, a 131 acres piece of land at Ayer Keroh, Melaka was purchased and developed to be what we see today, the KYS campus.
The ground breaking ceremony to commence the construction of the school was officiated by the then Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on 19 January 1995.
The then Director of Renong Education Centre (REC), Mr. Rozalli Noordin, who himself is a highly credible educationist, was the man behind the school concept. He was responsible for the construction of the school, which took a record four months to complete.
In the early days, the KYS administration office was at the Renong Education Centre, Faber Towers, Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur. On 2 May 1995, the pioneer employees, comprising of seven academic staff-members and five administrative personnel moved in to occupy the KYS campus at Ayer Keroh, though construction work was still in progress.
The first intake of 60 Form 1 scholars (40 boys and 20 girls) who initially had to study in various government schools were transferred to Kolej Yayasan Saad on 25 June 1995. In January 1996, KYS took in the first batch of 20 Form 4 scholars. KYS then opened its doors to non bumiputera students - on 6 January 2000, five Chinese and two Indian students were the first seven non-bumiputera students to register as Form 1 students.
Here in KYS, the staff is committed to both the highest standards of academic excellence and a deep concern for developing future leaders. We work hard to progress and to develope the school to cater for the future today, that is, making KYS as the School of Tomorrow-Today (SOT2). A resort like school – the academic, boarding, dining, sports and many other facilities, are provided to give every student a quality experience of student life. Campus-wide internet connectivity gives great convenience for students to do online work. Helping students in learning how to learn and developing them to become independent learners proved to be very inspiring for our students to work diligently with dedication and commitment towards achieving their full potential.
Students are taught sound moral and religious values and ample time is used to educate them as Malaysians with a spirit of service and dedication to the nation. We also engage students in activities that would make them active and responsible leaders. Many students’ first experience as a leader happen in schools and on this basis, we are committed to maximize the opportunities for all our students to achieve their leadership potentials. KYS is a school dedicated to develop its students to become future leaders and captains of industry. Besides preparing our students to attain academic success, we emphasise on leadership and character development. Our programmes are designed to provide essential learning and to ensure that every student who enrolls into the school would receive a quality all-round learning experience.