Jingbo Wu – Beijing Kids

2014 School Choice Guide Focus: Swedish School Beijing 瑞典学校

beijingkids — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 05:00:00 +0000

For the coming weeks, we will be highlighting local and international schools around Beijing from our upcoming 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, which comes out in early February 2014. Scroll down for more information on how to participate in our annual school choice fair in March 2014.

Open to all Scandinavian students in the city, the Swedish School Beijing follows the Swedish curriculum that guides students to work towards “Nationella prov” in Swedish, English and Math. The school has small classes that enable each child’s progress to be individually monitored, lending extra support as required.

Founding date: 1994

School type: Swedish kindergarten and primary school

Grades Offered: Nursery to Grade 6

Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education? Yes

Tuition fees (2013-2014 Academic Year): Pre school- half day (2 year olds) – RMB 50,000 per year; full day (2-3 year olds) – RMB 80,000 per year; 4 year olds – RMB 105,000 per year; 5 year olds – RMB 115,000 per year; Grades 1-4 – RMB 110,000 per year; Grade 5-6 – RMB 120,000 (hot lunch, fruit and all material is included in the price)

Application fee: RMB 1,500

Transportation fee: River Garden, Yosemite, Rose & Ginko – RMB 7,000 per year; Riviera – RMB 9,800RMB per year; Downtown – RMB 12,000 per year

Age range: 2-12

Number of students: 80

Nationality of students: Swedish, Danish and Norwegian

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching language: Swedish

Languages taught: English and Chinese

Teacher to Student Ratio: 1:8

Class size: 10 (Nursery), 15 (Pre-K and Kindergarten), 8-20 (Grade 1-6)

School hours: 8.30am-3.00pm

After school activities: Dance, track & field, homework club, drama, Chinese and other activities.

Special needs programs offered: Yes

School facilities: Pre-school and school buildings. Classrooms with Smart Board technology, two libraries; for children and adults, crafts room, PE Hall, music room, cafeteria and a spacious outdoor playground with soccer field.

Total area of campus: 6,000 sqm

School nurse: None available.

Lunch offered: Chinese and Western food (price included in tuition)

Contact: Gahood Villa, Xibaixinzhuang, Houshayu, Shunyi District. (6456 0826, info@ssbchina.com) www.ssbchina.se, 顺义区后沙峪镇西白辛庄嘉浩别墅城101318

Word from a Parent:
"We felt that having our child know the Swedish language was an important factor for us when we move back to Sweden. We felt the Swedish School was a safe choice because the children were only 2 ½ when they started – it was the obvious choice for us as we were only planning on staying in Beijing for a couple of years. At the Swedish school the children are part of the Swedish culture and learn the social codes that they will meet when they go back to Sweden. The atmosphere is great! Most kids know each other and the older likes to play with the younger ones. I also appreciate the children learn Chinese and English from young age."
– Anna and Johan Centerman, parents of Saga and Sigge (Trollen preschool group)

For more information on the 2014-2015 School Choice Guide e-mail editor@beijing-kids.com and click here to view the 2013-2014 School Choice Guide on ISSUU. For more information on our upcoming School Choice Fair on March 1-2, 2014, please e-mail schoolchoicefair@truerun.com.

Photo courtesy of Swedish School

2014 School Choice Guide Focus: Springboard International Bilingual School 君诚国际双语学校

beijingkids — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Springboard International Bilingual School (SIBS) is where children come from all around the world to work and learn together in a safe, friendly, educational environment. The international curriculum is complemented by two daily instructional courses for Chinese language and math. SIBS’ teachers are dedicated professionals from the UK and the US. The new Middle School opens August 2014.

Founding date: April 2002

School type: International bilingual scjool

Grades Offered: Kindergarten to Grade 6, high school

Is the School Registered with the Ministry of Education? Yes

Tuition fees (2013-2014 Academic Year): RMB 60,000 (kindergarten), RMB 90,000 (Grade 1-6), RMB 90,000 (Grade 10-12)

Application fee: RMB 10,000

Lunch fee: RMB 25/day, international weekly menu. Chinese/Western menu with vegetarian and Halal options.

Transportation fee: RMB 7,000-12,000

Types of scholarships offered: Offered on a case-by-case basis.

Age range: 4-18

Number of students: 100+

Nationality of students: Europe, South Korea, Africa, Canada, China, US, Singapore

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching language: English

Languages taught: English and Chinese

Class size: Max 20, min 5

Teacher/student ratio: 1:15

School hours: 8.30am-3.10pm or 4.10pm

After school activities: Offered twice a week from 3.10-4pm on Tue and Thu
Special needs programs offered: Several teachers have SEN teaching experience so provisions can be made.

Extra help offered: ESL tutoring School

School facilities: Specialist grade teaching classrooms, an ESL classroom, a school library, a science classroom, a music/dance studio, an art classroom, an outdoor jungle gym, and a multi sports soccer field and track with Astroturf.

School Nurse: Yes

Contact Details: Gucheng Village, 15 Huosha Lu, Houshayu Town, Shunyi District. (8049 0307 Chinese/Korean, Harry Brookfield 186 1236 3447 English, office@sibs.com.cn) 顺义区后沙峪镇火沙路古城段15 号www.sibs.com.cn

Word from a parent:
“Springboard has been a wonderful choice school for our daughter Lily. We have been so happy with the support that we have received from the Springboard staff and her wonderful teacher Ms. Sarah. As newcomers to Beijing we were a little worried about Lily’s education while living in China and we were so pleased when we found SIBS because not only was it affordable but it offered her a wonderful education that was closer to the American curriculum that we were used to back in the United States. We were also very excited when they started offering swimming and Lily has really enjoyed her swim classes that are offered through SIBS. We are also pleased with how well she is picking up Chinese through her Chinese language and math courses offered through SIBS. Overall, the staff has been really supportive of Lily’s education and the President and Principle Charlie really go out of their way to make us as parents feel good that our child is receiving the best care and education China has to offer.”
Laura Lyman, USA, mother of Lily ( 5)

Photo courtesy of SIBS

2014 School Choice Guide Focus: The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China (RDFZ) 人大附中

beijingkids — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China (commonly known in China as Renda Fuzhong, abbreviated to RDFZ) has developed relationships and partnerships with 46 schools overseas, including Thomas Jefferson Science High School and Phillips Academy Andover in USA, Eton College in UK, etc. In addition to its Chinese training courses and standard Chinese curriculum, the school offers British A-Level, IBDP and American AP courses. Faculty consists of over 60 international teachers and more than 200 international students from over 20 different countries. Each year, over 85% of the international graduates are admitted into such renowned universities as Beijing Uniersity, Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China.

Founding date: 1950

School type: A Key Public School under the direct leadership of Ministry of Education

Grades Offered: Grade 7-12

Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education? Yes

School Qualification: RDFZ is a key public high school under the direct leadership of the Ministry of Education. Approved by Beijing Education Commission and Beijing Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipal Government, the International Section of RDFZ was set up in April 2002 to recruit international students.

Tution fees (2014-2015 Academic Year):
Tuition for each semester:
Chinese Training Class：RMB 21,800 per semester
Regular Class：RMB 25,000 per semester
British A-LEVEL Program：RMB 40,000 per semester
American AP Program：RMB 45,000 per semester
IBDP：RMB 50,000 per semester

Application/registration Fee: None

Accommodation Fees for students living on campus：
Room for 3 persons: RMB 6,200 per bed per semester
Room for 2 persons: RMB 9,300 per bed per semester

Personal expenses on the basis of personal needs include：
School uniforms, books, food, student visa fee (RMB 400), Insurance for foreign students (RMB 600), Social activities (to be decided on the actual cost).

Scholarships offered: RDFZ offers such scholarships to the international students as Scholarship for Excellent Students and Scholarship for Excellent Graduates.

Age range: 12-16 (foreign passport holder with the legal guardian in Beijing during his/her study period at RDFZ.)

Number of current international students: 205

Nationality of students: Korea, USA, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Japan, Kazakhstan and etc.

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching languages: Chinese and English

Languages taught: Spanish, German, Japanese, French, Russian, Korean, etc.

Class size: Ranges from 5 to 45 students per class

Teacher/student ratio: 1:9

School hours: 8am-4.30pm

After school activities: RDFZ offers a variety of clubs and activities based on students’ interests, including sports, film festivals, animation exhibitions, photographic and painting shows, etc.

School facilities: Gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, soccer field with a 400-meter track around it, basketball and volleyball courts, library with regular and electronic reading spaces both for students and teachers and various science laboratories. There is also a large canteen with first-class facilities and a 30,000-square-meter student dormitory.

Total area of campus: 100,000 sqm

School nurse: On-site clinic with doctors and nurses.

Meals offered: The school canteen provides students and teachers three meals daily with a large variety of foods.

Contact: The International Section of Renda Fuzhong, 37 Zhongguancun Dajie, Haidian District. (6251 3962, 6251 2094, 6251 3962 fax, guojibu3962@sina.com) 海淀区中关村大街37号人大附中国际部 www.rdfz.cn

Word from a Parent:
“My son was born in the US, where he was accustomed to a more liberal education. We were concerned about his ability to adapt to the Chinese education system when we moved back … but now I feel really fortunate to have chosen RDFZ. My son’s class teacher, in particular, has created a lot of opportunities for my son to participate in different kinds of activities where he could play his strong points of using English, thus his self-confidence was built up and his sense of belonging to his class was enhanced. The math teacher emphasizes developing student’s interest and believes that it is the best way to help students to improve their grades. The teachers from the International Section have been using various methods to encourage my son for his progress. The students of RDFZ are active, lovely and friendly. My son was quickly able to make a lot of friends, which is really important for a boy of his age.”
– Hu Xinli, mother of Chen Haobo (US, Grade 9)

Photo courtesy of RCFZ

2014 School Choice Guide Focus: Keystone Academy 北京鼎石国际学校

beijingkids — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:00:00 +0000

A “New World School” promoting Chinese culture and identity in a global context

Keystone Academy, which will enroll its inaugural class in fall 2014, blends distinctive traditions in Eastern, Western and international education to create an academically outstanding “new world school” that promises to be a unique and exciting school option for families in China. The school’s philosophy is based on three educational keystones: bilingual immersion in Chinese and English, building character and community in a residential setting and promoting Chinese culture and identity in a global context. Keystone is a day school through Grade 6 with optional boarding in Grades 7 and 8 and required boarding in Grades 9 through 12.

Founding date: 2014

School type: Foundation year-Grade 12

Tuition fees (2014-2015 Academic Year):
Application fee: No application fee for Year 2014

One-year tuition:
Primary School: RMB 220,000
Middle School: RMB 250,000

Types of scholarships offered: Merit-based

Age range: 5-19

Number of students: Initial enrollment of 280; 1,800 when fully enrolled

Nationality of students: Chinese and international students in a 3:1 ratio

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching language: English and Chinese, depending on the grade

Languages taught: English and Chinese

Class size: 18 (primary), 14 (middle school)

Teacher/student ratio: 1:7

School hours: 8am-3.30pm

After school activities: Sports, music, visual arts, drama and activities related to Chinese traditional culture.
Special needs programs offered: No

Extra help offered: ESL

School facilities: Three libraries, a performing arts center designed by Harvard professor of architecture, science & technology labs, art spaces, an athletic field for soccer, three separate indoor gymnasiums, a 25-meter swimming pool, several squash and tennis courts, a fitness and training center, indoor and outdoor running tracks, safe outdoor play spaces for primary school children and two residence halls.

Total area of campus: 90,000 sqm

School nurse: Yes

Lunch offered: Nutritious Chinese, Western and vegetarian options.

Contact: Houshayu, Shunyi District. (5825 6008, admission@keystoneacademy.cn) 顺义区后沙峪
www.keystoneacademy.cn

Word from a Parent:
“My children are Chinese American and are bilingual and bicultural. My husband and I have researched over 30 elementary schools in Beijing and to be honest, we are having trouble finding a school that is academically rigorous, emphasizes both Chinese and English, and uses a teaching methodology that develops the whole child. I was very excited to read about Keystone Academy and the educational diversity it can bring to China, especially Beijing. “ – Willa AuYeung (U.S.)

Photo courtesy of Keystone

2014 School Choice Guide Focus: Beijing No. 4 High School 北京市第四中学

beijingkids — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 05:00:00 +0000

A nationally recognized school with programs catering to international students Beijing No. 4 High School is a pilot middle school and high school, a member of UNESCO, and one of the oldest key schools in Beijing. Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the school has taught over 35,000 Chinese and foreign students. The main campus includes an international department, which was established in 2002. department offers Chinese language courses, diploma courses, and prep courses for higher education to a diverse student body from South Korea, Japan, the US, the UK, Canada and elsewhere. Foreign students who pass HSK level 6 have the option of integrating into the school’s Chinese curriculum.

Beijing No. 4 also has a newly established international campus that accepts both Chinese and international student. Here they follow an American curriculum, with small classes and dedicated local teachers from the main campus who work alongside a team of foreign teachers.

Founding date: 1907 School type (main campus middle and high school), 2012 (new international campus)

Type of school: Chinese public high school with a Sino-American cooperative high school program

Grades offered: 7-12 (main campus), 10-12 (new international campus)

Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education? Yes

Accreditations: Currently being reviewed for WASC accreditation.

Tuition fees (2014-2015 Academic Year):
Main Campus International Department (local curriculum): RMB 50,000 a year

Scholarship (Local curriculum only): Yes

Sino-American High School Program: RMB 100,000 a year

Accommodation: RMB 320 per semester

Lunch: RMB 25 per meal

Age range: 12-18 (main campus), 15-18 (new international campus)
Number of students: 2,700 (main campus), 145 (new international campus)

Nationalities of students: 26 countries. Sino-American High School

Program: 95% Chinese.

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching languages: Chinese (main campus), English (new international campus)

Class size: 40-50 (main campus international department), 16-21 (new international campus)

Teacher/student ratio: 1:7 (main campus international department), 1:6 (new international campus)

School hours: 8am-4pm (main campus), 8am-5pm (new international campus)

After school activities: Main campus has nearly 60 student clubs, including swimming, wushu, dancing, chorus, orchestra, calligraphy, painting, science, technology, Model United Nations and more. The new international campus has over 20 student clubs, including Psychology Club, Chinese Magazine Club, TV Club, Photography Club and a Science Club.

School facilities: Main campus has a 44 meter athletic field, basketball courts, ping pong tables, fitness center, 1,200-person theater, auditorium etc. The new international campus has 22 standard classrooms; 5 labs/special classrooms for Chemistry, Physics, Technology, Biology, Music/Art; library, auditorium and multi-function room; athletic and fitness facilities and a 120-bed students dormitory etc.
Total area of campus: 43,000 sqm (main campus), 8,743 sqm (new international campus)

School doctor/nurse available? Yes

Lunch offered: Mainly Chinese food.

Contact:
Main Campus: A2 Xihuangchenggen Beijie, Xicheng District (6653 9752, 6617 3886, guojb@bhsf.cn) www.bhsf.cn 西城区西皇城根北街甲2号

New international campus: 2 Zongmaotoutiao, Xitiejianghutong, Xicheng District. (6653 9977) www.bhsf.cn 西城区西铁匠胡同宗帽头条2号

Photo courtesy of Beijing No.4 High School

My Life in Bilingual Education: An Interview with Mary Jew from Keystone Academy

Sisi_Chen — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Mary Jew is the head of primary school for Keystone Academy. She moved from Hong Kong to San Francisco when she was in primary school, suddenly becoming immersed in a bilingual English and Chinese environment. At home, Jew spoke two dialects: Cantonese and Taishangnese. The following interview about bilingual education originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of our Chinese-language sister magazine, jingkids.

How old were you when you started in a bilingual environment?
Nine or 10 years old. There weren’t any ESOL or bilingual programs, so it was sink or swim. I was a high achiever in Hong Kong; when I went to the US, I didn’t understand anything and all my papers came back with bad marks. It was very discouraging. It’s not difficult for kids to learn languages; the difficult part was not being able to read or understand my teachers. I remember coming home crying all the time. I relied on a Chinese-English dictionary.

However, teachers saw the potential in me even though my English language ability wasn’t fully there. One of my counselors in middle school actually put me in the honors class – and that changed my track quite a bit.

I also started playing my first instrument in middle school. I guess I played horribly because my teacher never shared the following with me until I auditioned for the orchestra and got in. He said: “Mary, I thought you would never make it.” If he had said that to me at the beginning, I would never have continued playing the instrument.

What inspired you to become an educator?
In those years, all the teachers were non-Chinese. Chinese people weren’t welcome as teacher for the longest time; this is part of Chinese-American history. The majority of [Chinese] kids didn’t speak Chinese and they weren’t encouraged to. I continued to see new immigrants come into my classes and I saw how they were humiliated. By Grade 6, I was very determined to become a teacher so I could help these kids.

Many of them were placed into Special Ed just because they had a language barrier. Many of these kids were damaged by that because the “special needs” label never came off until they were in high school. By that time, their self-confidence was gone. That continued in the US for quite a while because they didn’t know what to do with these kids.

I was in the Spanish bilingual program. In college, they were recruiting for what was called “Teach Corp,” which is funded by the government – in other words, an internship for becoming a teacher. They paid for your Master’s degree and had you working in disadvantaged areas in exchange.

My internship was in a farming community where there were a lot of Spanish-speaking migrant workers. There were many applicants for the position; only 30 were selected. Out of the 30, only three were non-Hispanic. That turned out to be a really good experience for me. We were going to school, teaching part-time, and working with the community.

How would you describe a bilingual program?
There are many different definitions and types of programs. Bilingual models can be traditional, transitional, or partial-maintenance. The latter means that the students will maintain their mother tongue. There’s also one-way or two-way immersion, which is known as dual-language immersion.

An example of one-way immersion would be Canada. Everyone is fluent in English then learns French at school. Dual-language immersion is a mixture [of both languages]. Starting at middle school is too late; we’re advocating as early as possible.

Kids only have so much time. How can they learn two languages at the same time and achieve 100 percent fluency in both?
The time we spend in the classroom is more important than homework. Homework has to be meaningful and an extension of what students learn at school. If it becomes just busy work, it won’t yield [good]results.

I always tell parents that, because the kids are learning two languages, it’s not more homework, but [it can seem like more because]it’s homework that is being done in two languages. The teachers must coordinate and communicate with each other to ensure that homework will not overload the kids. For example, if the students are learning multiplication, they might use games in English class that use multiplication to support their learning.

I also tell parents to be supportive. If you are a native Chinese speaker, you are totally capable of supporting them with their Chinese classes. If you can’t help them in English, you can still supervise them to make sure they’re doing the work.

When kids get to middle school and high school, they’ll need to juggle other subjects such as science and history. Can bilingual education be sustained during this period?
If kids have developed a good base for their languages, they should be very strong by the time they finish middle school. However, they should not repeat the subject in two languages. That’s a waste of time.

In Texas, they really believe in bilingual and immersion programs. In primary, they may have Spanish and English bilingual education, then add Chinese as another language in middle school. You might end up with a Mexican kid who speaks perfect English, perfect Spanish, and perfect Chinese. Granted, there is always going to be one language that’s a little more dominant.

Based on research, it takes about seven years on average to learn a language [in an academic setting]. So you have to keep it up in middle school to really develop that. Can you imagine your child going through school 70 percent of the time in Chinese and all of sudden switching to all-English school? It’s not good for them.

When parents make the decision [to put their kids in bilingual education], they have to know that it’s a commitment they’ll have to make for a long time. At about Grade 4-5, the [second]language will come to a balance with the mother tongue.

What about different language levels in the same classroom?
You’re going to have that problem even in single-language schools. Regardless of whether it’s an immersion environment or not, the key is not approaching teaching as one-size-fits-all. In the US, we call it “Differentiated Instructions.”

Education for parents is just as important. We hold many workshops; if they get a better understanding [of their child’s education], then we can work as partners.

Define Keystone’s immersion program. What is the goal?
The expectation is that our students will leave Keystone with bilingual and bi-literate skills, as well as a very global perspective. I can’t all of a sudden become an engineer when I’m not trained in that area; similarly, you can’t just become a teacher because you speak the language.

So, we will be looking for teachers who have experience in both languages. They will come from different backgrounds, but we want everyone to have that professional learning. The latter is one of the pivotal factors for why students are successful. If you have good teachers that are also well-trained, you will have good results.

You also have to find a curriculum that fits your program. Textbooks won’t fit 100 percent. There’s a lot of teacher involvement and development, as well as materials that will fit that specific community and program model.

The results have come out from the US and Canada for the last 30-40 years: If bilingual and immersion programs are well-supported, the test results for those kids far surpass [unilingual]programs.

Mary Jew is the head of Keystone Academy’s primary school. She has over 25 years of experience working in the California public school system with Grades K-12. In addition to working for public school districts and county offices of education, Jew has served as a lecturer for San Francisco State University’s Department of Education.

Jew has established herself as a leader in the US in bilingual and immersion education by developing and managing numerous immersion programs in English as well as Cantonese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin.

Jew is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a past president of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) and the California Association for Asian Pacific Educators (CAAPE). She also served for many years on the Executive Board of the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) and the National Association for Asian Pacific Educators, and was formerly appointed by the Speaker of the House and served for four years as a Commissioner on the California State Curriculum and Supplemental Materials Commission.

Jew is currently the Deputy Principal of the Primary School and Director of the Immersion Program at the Independent Schools Foundation Academy in Hong Kong. At Keystone, she will be developing and overseeing the primary school curriculum and its related language immersion program.

Photo courtesy of Keystone Academy