Former United States President Barack Obama attended the school for one and a half years when he was growing up in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government took over administration of the school in 1962, and has since been run by the Raden Saleh Foundation.

Notable former students include the children of Bambang Trihatmodjo, son of former president Suharto, the grandchildren of former vice presidents Hamzah Haz and Try Sutrisno, as well as the Dutch author Tonke Dragt.

[2] Obama's announcement of his candidacy for United States president in January, 2007 drew worldwide media attention to the school, with many media outlets sending reporters there, including The Chicago Tribune,[3][4] NBC,[5] and the BBC.

[6] Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press reported: "Those tied to the school say they are proud to have had a student like Obama, and hope that, if he is elected president, his ties to Indonesia will broaden his world perspective and his views on religion.