Chinese Education “Revives” an American Elementary School

When speaking of the changes in Barnard Mandarin Chinese Magnet School in San Diego over the past 3 years, Principal Edward D. Park- a Korean American- said: “It is incredible, just like a fairy tale!”

3 years ago, Barnard Elementary School had only approximately 100 students. According to the provision of the California Department of Education to save educational costs, a school with less than 500 students has to be dissolved. At the request of the school and parents, the District School Board decided to put off closing the school, but required that the school increase the number of students registered as soon as possible. Related parties conducted public opinion polls among the parents to find a way out of the dilemma. Surprisingly, they all expressed the opinion that Chinese teaching would be essential for the recovery of the school.

At that time, Edward D. Park served as vice principal of a high school in Los Angeles. Moved by the enthusiasm of the teachers and students as well as the parents, he offered himself to be head of the school, which was located more than 200 kilometers away. Afterward, Barnard Mandarin Chinese Magnet School became the first full-time public elementary which included Chinese course into its curriculum.

Principal Edward D. Park fought to create unique features for the school. He visited local Chinese and Korean communities, the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, Confucius Institutes and other institutions to enlist the support of different parties. Mao Ronghui, who graduated from Nankai University and has rich experience in teaching Chinese as a second language, and Li Lei from the University of Science and Technology of China came to teach at the school. With the help of several assistants, they began Chinese teaching in the fall semester in 2007. 12 classes ranging from kindergarten class to the 5th grade were given a 45-minute Chinese lesson everyday which involved studying both Chinese language and culture.

The intensive Chinese courses have greatly improved the level of proficiency in Chinese for the students, and Chinese has become a part of their daily life. In the preliminary rounds for the 2010 “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign High School Students held on May 7th, 4 students sent by the school made excellent achievements and 5-grade student Addie won first place prize. Addie went to the school’s sister school in Shanghai, living and studying together with his counterparts. With an overwhelming passion for Chinese culture, he expressed that his greatest wish was to study in China in the future.

Chinese education has improved the students’ capacity for analysis, which helped improve their performance in English and other courses, and also helped increase the number of students. At present, the number of student has grown to 240. Currently, the school has been honored as a “School of Excellence” and many other schools have sent delegations to the school to learn from its experience. Dozens of principals from northern California expressed that they wanted to introduce Chinese education into their schools and carry forward the achievement of Barnard Elementary.

According to the requests of the Department of Education, Principal Edward D. Park decided to offer Chinese immersion courses starting from next year, which means that 80% of the school time will be used to teach math and science courses in Chinese and 20% for English teaching. This will set a precedent in San Diego Unified School District. (Xinhuanet, Reporter: Wang Jun)