In the summer of 2008, Morgan Rothschild Academy was honored to receive a group of educators from National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
in the USA.
NAIS represents approximately 1,400 independent schools and associations in the United States, and affiliates with independent schools abroad as well.
Mr. Jay Rapp,
the
Director of Programs, Equity and Justice Initiatives, from NAIS,
wrote about his impression of Morgan Rothschild Academy, was then know as Morgan Rothschild
Childcare Center.
I was happy to
share my educational philosophy and the vision of our shcool
with Mr. Rapp.
http://www.nais.org/equity/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151044
For those of you who cannot access the link, I have attached his article below about his
trip to Morgan Rothschild Academy:
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Diary Day 3, Delegation for Diversity 2008: China and Taiwan
By: Jay Rapp
Published: August 5, 2008
Updated: August 5, 2008
Yet another early morning. This morning I was up by 4:00 a.m. unable to go back to sleep. This works well in terms of being able to call home but is difficult in terms of fully functioning throughout our long day. At breakfast we were regaled with stories from colleagues who attended the Shanghai Circus. Those who went unanimously agreed that it was an unbelievable show rivaling Cirque de Soleil. It made me wish I had gone.
After breakfast we headed to our first stop, the Morgan Rothschild Childcare Center. This unique childcare facility was founded by University of Michigan and Harvard graduate, Morgan Huang. Morgan began his career as a financial analyst during the dot com boom and was very successful. After several years in the field he decided that a career in finance wasn’t as rewarding as he’d hoped so he spent the next year doing some important soul searching deciding what he’d like to do. During that year he spent three months working at a friend’s pre-school and loved every minute of it.
“It was the first time I looked forward to going to work every day,” Morgan admits. With this experience behind him he decided that he wanted to continue his studies with a clear goal in mind, opening a pre-school in China. In order to better prepare himself to realistically achieve this goal he applied and was accepted to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education where he completed his master’s degree in 2004.
It quickly became apparent that Morgan is an amazing man. He immediately comes across as kind hearted, unassuming, deferential, and humble. It is also important to note that Morgan is Taiwanese. After finding this out, several hands went up amongst our delegates asking the same question we were all thinking, “Why didn’t you open a childcare center in Taiwan?” Morgan sites two important reasons for this, one was that Morgan felt that the market in Taiwan was saturated and that there was a greater need and greater possibilities in China. The second more practical reason was that his mother had relocated to Shanghai to open what has become an extremely successful restaurant. It took Morgan more than a year of cutting through red tape before he was finally able to make his dream a reality.
There are several things that make Morgan’s childcare center unique in the heart of Shanghai. Perhaps the most noteworthy is that his curriculum is based on English immersion with 70 percent of the curriculum being communicated in English and 30 percent communicated in Chinese. By Chinese standards, the school is quite small with only 60 students enrolled for this fall. Most Chinese pre-schools have 500 plus students. His average class size is 10 students with three teachers, one certified teacher from the United States and two Chinese teachers. Just walking through the building, which Morgan designed himself, you get the impression that this is a special place. Colorful walls adorned with student pictures and artwork along with hallways with facades that replicate a quaint neighborhood and garden make this a warm and welcoming environment to both students and their families.
Yet another aspect of Morgan’s school that makes this a unique environment is his desire to include parents in the learning process. Daily progress reports are sent home with an opportunity for parents to respond and add their input for teachers to read the following day. When asked how many students he would ultimately like to have Morgan modestly said 80 stating that any more than that and he wouldn’t be able to remember the names of all his students and their family members, something that is very important to him in maintaining an intimate and rewarding learning environment.
As we were nearing the end of our visit, one of our participants asked how he came up with the name Morgan Rothschild. I found the answer gave yet another look into the soul of this wonderful man. As the group learned, Chinese people believe that the sons and daughters of wealthy families will eventually in subsequent generations be corrupted by their family’s glory and wealth. The Rothschild family however, a well known American banker family, have been successful and philanthropic for over 200 years. As an educator, Morgan hopes his students will follow in the steps of this wealthy American family that has defied the odds, as it were, and experience similar success.
Energized and inspired, we said our good-byes and boarded the bus for yet another meal that Donald promised would not disappoint. Entering an ancient section of Shanghai known as Qibao, we were led to a local restaurant where we would have lunch. Before sitting down at the table however, Donald encouraged us to explore the narrow alleyways filled with the sights and smells of vendors selling local delicacies and souvenirs. I have to admit that crowded allies filled with local smells combined with the heavy humidity overwhelmed my senses sending our small group back to the restaurant for some cool air and water.
Lunch was definitely an experience as the entire delegation sat down at three tables and began to order. While the pictures on the menu certainly helped, I have to give credit to my colleagues whose knowledge of Chinese saved the day. Dividing themselves between tables my colleagues Bruce Berk, Derryfield School; Holly Carter, Northeastern University; Mark Corliss, Tabor Academy; Doris Lin, Phillips Brooks School; and Fang Luan, St. Alcuin Montessori School helped the rest of us make sense of the menu. Bruce, who was at my table, did a wonderful job of ordering a variety of dishes fit for a king. We did get a little worried when they brought out the third bowl of fried rice and the forth bowl of noodles but it had all been devoured by the time we’d gotten up from the table.
Back on the bus we headed to our next appointment at the Fudan-Vanke Experimental Private School (VKS) where we were greeted by the board chair, Mr. Wang Jie Fang, and principal, Shelley Chen. Like Shanghai’s Gold Apple School, VKS is committed to a curriculum that blends East and West. Founded in 1996 by a former Fudan University president and well known scientist, the school forged a relationship with a large, well known, local real estate company called Vanke that had developed much of the neighborhood where the school is located. Thus, the name: Fudan-Vanke.
The school caters to 1,400 first through ninth graders occupying three buildings that possess dorms, classrooms, science labs, and dance and music facilities. Approximately 1,000 of those students come from mainland China, with 400 students coming from surrounding countries in Southeast Asia. Surprisingly, their entire boarding population is made up of students from mainland China.
The school offers four programs in an attempt to meet the varying needs of the academically diverse population. Program A is designed for native Mandarin speakers. Program B is designed for students who are fluent in Mandarin yet possess some English ability. Program C, only two years old, is for students that possess spoken ability in Mandarin and/or English but have weak writing skills. Program D is reserved for local students fluent in Mandarin based on local Shanghai curriculum. The ultimate goal of the school is to provide students with a world curriculum taught by both Western and Chinese teachers that work hard to communicate both language skills and culture.
Fudan-Vanke has done a wonderful job organizing and promoting educational exchanges throughout the world with established programs in Korea, Singapore, Japan, Britain, and the U.S. Most recently they have added the Blake School in Minnesota and Head Royce in the San Franciso Bay area to the list of schools with whom they have exchange programs. What is truly amazing is that these exchanges begin with students in the third grade.
Heading back to the hotel, I was looking forward to a quiet evening after a long day. However, with only one day remaining in our stay in Shanghai, many in the delegation were planning to rally their energy to explore a little more of all that the city offers.
