Mounds Park Academy Head of School to travel to China
Saint Paul, MN – Mounds Park Academy Head of School Michael Downs will travel to China in June to recruit and hire teachers of Mandarin Chinese to be employed by schools throughout the country who are members of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). He is one of only nine independent school heads from across the country to participate in the trip, and the only representative from Minnesota.
The teacher recruitment trip is part of the China Connection project, a unique partnership between NAIS and HANBAN, a non-governmental organization (NGO) funded by the Chinese government, with a goal of advancing the teaching of the Mandarin language in schools in the United States.
“This is an incredible opportunity for Mounds Park Academy as an institution, and for independent schools across the country,” said Downs. “This coordinated effort by our national association working in partnership with a Chinese agency allows us to simultaneously begin teaching Mandarin Chinese to students across the country. The hope is that as these programs take root in the independent schools and our connections with Chinese educators develop, there will be a ripple effect that will help make Chinese language instruction increasingly more available to all American students,” he said.
“The timing of this opportunity could not be better,” said Mounds Park Academy Board Chair Elect Nancy Misra. “In June of 2005 our Board of Trustees adopted a strategic plan that places ‘A Global Advantage’ at the top of the list of three key goals for the next five years. There is great interest among our parents and our funders in incorporating Mandarin Chinese into our curriculum. This effort by NAIS lays the groundwork for us to make it happen,” she said.
The NAIS delegation will depart from Los Angeles June 15 and return on June 25. The delegates will travel to various cities, visit a variety of schools, meet authorities from central and local education facilities and experience Chinese culture. While in Beijing, they will interview candidates from a large pool of native-speaking teachers and hire teachers both for their own schools, as well as other NAIS member schools who make a request. NAIS estimates that as many as 50 teachers may be hired to begin instructing students at American independent schools at the beginning of the 2006-07 school year.
Teachers will be hired for an initial one-year contract, with the hope that the assignment will extend to at least three years. HANBAN, with financial support from the Chinese government, will provide teachers with a stipend for the 2006-07 school year, with the second and third year salaries to be paid by the schools.
According to NAIS president Patrick Bassett, the partnership furthers the NAIS commitment to providing resources to its schools. “Part of our mission as an organization is to provide resources that will help our schools model what great 21st century schools must become, sustainable along several continua, including the global one. This program is an excellent reflection of that mission,” he said.
The China Connection program was announced to NAIS member schools at the organization’s annual conference in March, where Downs was recognized for his leadership role in developing a partnership with Saint Paul Public Schools to bring the innovative Breakthrough Saint Paul program to Saint Paul Public Schools students. Schools interested in participating in the China Connection program were asked to indicate their interest. Downs was notified of his selection to travel with the delegation on April 7 and asked to confirm his acceptance by April 11. Schools whose heads are not part of the delegation, but are interested in hiring a teacher through the program, must notify NAIS by May 1.
Since its inception in 1982, Mounds Park Academy has identified the teaching of foreign language as part of its core curriculum. All students receive daily instruction beginning in kindergarten and continuing through 12th grade. A team of educators and administrators is currently in the process of determining how it will integrate the Mandarin Chinese program into the curriculum. They hope to provide parents and students with a plan by early June.
The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a membership organization representing approximately 1,200 independent schools and associations in the United States and abroad, including 10 Minnesota schools. It acts as the national voice of independent pre-collegiate education and as the center for collective action on behalf of its membership. It serves and strengthens its member schools and associations by articulating and promoting high standards of educational quality and ethical behavior by working to preserve their independence to serve the democratic society from which that independence derives and by advocating broad access for students in affirming the principles of equity and justice. Additional information on NAIS can be found at www.nais.org.