San Francisco Schools Connect To China And Its Chinese Community

The Alice Fong Yu Alternative SchoolSchool Attached to Beijing Normal University. The
The Alice Fong Yu Alternative School, one Sanselected students and two teachers from China
Francisco School, is the first Chinese immersion schoolstayed with host families and participated in classes
in the United States. The school is designed as aand school functions including English, art and modern
two-way Chinese/English instructional environment.dance classes. The Chinese students were able to
The school provides an outstanding educationaltour City College, the Chinese Consulate and many
experience for children of all backgrounds. Allinteresting tourist destinations in the San Francisco
students at Alice Fong Yu develop competency inarea. Both the local and Chinese students spent their
the Cantonese and English languages and use thetime practicing English and Mandarin.
two languages actively in the content curriculum. TheDance and Art Students from San Francisco Schools
school aims to have all students to be able toTravel to China
converse in and become literate in both English andOther programs in San Francisco Schools have
Cantonese by 5th grade. The Mandarin language isallowed students to travel to China to participate in
added after the fifth grade. The Mandarin/Englishinternational exchanges and competitions. This
program is similar in scope and function to thesummer five students from the San Francisco School
Cantonese/English program. The program is intendedof Arts will travel to ShenZhen, China as
to vigorously include the staff, parents, and studentsrepresentatives of the United States at the
in cultural and language education. The Alice Fong YuShenZhen International Culture and Arts Festival. As
school uses parents and volunteers in a variety ofpart of an Educational Exchange program facilitated
enrichment programs such as, Performing Artsby Dr. Marie Lee, Director of East/West Child
Workshop, Poets in the Schools, and science andResearch and Development Center and former
library consultants.school administrator of the San Francisco Schools, all
The Alice Fong Yu Alternative School's Chinesestudent expenses in China will be provided in full by
Exchange Programthe ShenZhen Nanshan Government. The five
Created in 2000, the exchange program sends theselected students will perform two dances, Chant of
eighth grade class to Beijing to meet their Chinesethe Sirens and Basin Street Blues. The School of the
pen pals. The program gives students the opportunityArts students were the only students from the
to use their knowledge of the Chinese language andUnited States invited to the Festival in 2006. The
culture in a real life experience. The students travelthree hundred students at the Festival represented
to Beijing and Hong Kong where they meet Chinesecountries from around the world including: Australia/
students their own age. This experience allowsNew Zealand, Russia, Germany, Bulgaria, Canada,
students to experience the culture first-hand and putIndia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and others. Along with
their language skills to the ultimate test.performing at the Festival students will visit schools,
In January of 2005, the program came closer toattend art exhibitions, eat new foods, visit tourist
being a true exchange program. San Franciscolocations, and learn about Chinese culture and
Schools through the Alice Fong Yu School hostedlanguage while staying with Chinese families and
students and teachers from The Experimental Highstudents.