Morgan Rothschild Academy mentioned in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Delegation for

Morgan Rothschild Academy mentioned in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Delegation for

Diversity 2008 Agenda

In 2008, we received a group of educators from the U.S. The visit was organized by the National Association of Independent School http://www.nais.org/

Following is an excerpt from the delegation’s schedule.

Tuesday, July 29

Shanghai

Go-to Person:  Gene Batiste

Dress:  Business Casual/School Dress

·        Breakfast from 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M.

·        Coach departs Equatorial @ 8:30 A.M.

·        Name of School:

Morgan Rothschild Academy (9:30 AM – 11:30 AM)

Host:  Morgan Huang Founder.  Mr. Huang will give us a thorough introduction to MRA’s programs, including the reading, math and science curricula.  Questions, of course, are welcome.

Context:

The Morgan Rothschild Academy (MRA) takes a particularly innovative approach to  early childhood education, an approach not seen until now in mainland China.  Morgan Huang, MRA’s Taiwan-born and Harvard-educated founder, conceived this bilingual academy for children aged 2 to 6 years, in 2001, during a visit to the mainland.  Today, in each classroom children learn from one English-language teacher and two Chinese-language teachers.

Morgan Rothschild Academy strives to meet the high expectations of parents, who are concerned about results and academic learning in an early childhood program.  To address these expectations, MRA makes its educational results evident to parents and, at the same time, helps parents to understand

the school’s own expectations for the children. 

For example, Moran Rothschild Academy teachers draw up monthly curricula for their students, detail every lesson under each subject area, and display these for parents’ reference.  Morgan Rothschild Academy teachers treat every child as a unique individual, and work earnestly to ensure that each child’s own particular personal and academic needs are met.

Agenda:

à 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM:  Presentation by Morgan Huang, followed by Q&A.

à 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM:  Tour of the facility; talks with teachers; introductions to young students in the Morgan Rothschild Academy.

à 11:30 AM:  Coach departs Morgan Rothschild Academy.

·        Visit Qibao Ancient Town, w/ Lunch in Qibao Restaurant (12:00 PM – 1:30 PM; Lunch Own Account)

Teacher Feedback from Morgan Rothschild Academy Preschool Room Teacher 2008-2009

Teacher Feedback from Morgan Rothschild Academy Preschool Room Teacher 2008-2009

My decision on coming to China and to teach at Morgan Rothschild Academy was a difficult one.  It meant leaving a tight knit family, friends, and a significant other.  I have been living and teaching in Shanghai for eight months and never regretted my decision on coming here.  The City is English friendly and extremely easy to navigate.  The language barrier is not a problem; I have already learned many words just from teaching at the school.  The culture’s history, values, and traditions are deeply rooted in the city and it has been a wonderful learning experience.    I also have gotten the opportunity to travel to other surrounding cities in China.  The knowledge that I will come home with will be priceless. 

       I am the preschool teacher and Morgan’s Rothschild Academy.  I thoroughly enjoy it, the children are wonderful!  They amaze me on how brilliant they are.  Some children can speak three languages!  The small class sizes at allows for more one-on-one interaction with each child.  I have really gotten to know each child’s personality and come to love them.  Morgan Rothschild Academy is bilingual and has English Speaking administration to help with anything I need at school and at home.  The other Chinese teachers are very helpful as well.  The Chinese teachers along with the other English teachers have become like family to me.    My ESL teaching experience in China and at Morgan Rothschild Academy has helped me become a better teacher and I feel I will be more valuable to future employers.

Sarah Verdeyen

verdeyener@gmail.com

Morgan Rothschild Academy Celebrated Fifth Annual Christmas and New Year Concert at the Four Seasons

Morgan Rothschild Academy Celebrated Fifth Annual Christmas and New Year Concert at the Four Seasons

Every year at Morgan Rothschild Academy, we hold two concerts for children to perform for their parents. One of them is the Christmas and New Year Concert. The children will use this time to show off their talents of dancing and singing. In 2010, we had our concert at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai.

In the past years, we had our concerts in the Academy. However, due to the increased enrollment in 2010, we had decided to move our concert to the largest ballroom of the Four Seasons. We were thrilled not only to have families and friends from Morgan Rothschild Academy to come and celebrate the joyous holiday tradition with us, but also we had entertained a few families outside of the Academy. Combined together we had over 120 people came to our concert.

The whole event ran from 1030 a.m. to 1200 p.m. on December 10. Everyone from the Nursery Room, the Toddler Room, the Preschool Room and the Kindergarten Room went up to the stage to perform. Though it is a novelty to parents from the West to see their young children singing and dancing on the stage, the concert is actually quite common in the Chinese culture. Therefore, we at Morgan Rothschild Academy are no exception. That said, children were all very excited to perform at the Four Seasons for their parents to see.

Besides singing the Chinese and English songs, our Kindergarten friends also preformed an English poem, “The Snowman.” Some may wonder if very young children could perform in group. Well, we do remind the audience that all of the performances are “subject to change at the discretion of the artists!” At Morgan Rothschild Academy, we firmly believe that the most important thing is to have fun! If it is not fun, why do it?