Read part one of The Making of a Global Education here.

A Warm Welcome for Newly Arrived Staff

In September 2020 Shanghai Huaer Collegiate School Kunshan, opened its doors to nearly 600 new students, ranging from ages 2 to 15; the higher grades will fill through natural progression. In a video of the school, Santos sings out, “Good morning,” and the children shout their greeting back. “I am so happy to be here this morning and to see all of your lovely faces,” she says.

The welcome she receives on a daily basis delights her. “Because I’m the principal and head of the school, in US terms I’m like the president of the United States. They think I’m a superstar. If I walk down the hall, you should see how excited they get,” she says. “I just love them.”

It helped that Dipont offered extensive support when Santos arrived, guiding her through bureaucratic processes and helping her find a place to live. (She opted for a hotel rather than an apartment, just eight minutes’ drive from the school.) Even as Santos boarded the plane, she was receiving text messages advising her to make sure her luggage went all the way through to Shanghai. “They just take good care of you, even once you’re here,” she says.

Like many teachers who come to work in international schools, she doesn’t speak the language but says she has found Chinese culture to be warmly welcoming. As a foreigner, she inspires curiosity when she is out on the streets, with parents urging their kids to try out their English with ‘Hello.’

It’s a sentiment echoed by other expatriate teachers. Amy Loveday Hu, Head of Kindergarten at another Dipont school, Nanwai King’s College School, in the neighboring city of Wuxi, recalls a similar experience when she first flew to China in 2004. She bought a return ticket but never used the second part. “I found everybody so very welcoming. I wasn’t scared that I didn’t understand.”

Covid-19: An Unexpected Challenge

The arrival of Covid-19 swiftly imposed a need for resilience in the new school leader. Santos had gone back to Georgia to see family in January 2020 when reports of a new virus began to hit the news. It was meant to be a short holiday, but she found herself stuck in the US, conducting business and running meetings remotely. “I wouldn’t have guessed that I would be there for seven months,” she recalls. “Day one turned into day two turned into day three. It was seven months that I was in the US. And we forged on.”

Now she is firmly set on next steps. The school has a progressive curriculum and is committed to helping scholars flourish both within the classroom and beyond it, aiming to produce young adults who are healthy and globally aware. Its mission is to foster resilience, adaptability, ethical behavior and enlightened communication between Chinese and English cultures. These are qualities the school defines as keys to success, and its leaders want to encourage them not just among students but also in its staff.

Santos’ love of her students is clear — “they’re all special to me,” she points out. She hopes that the school will nurture the positive qualities already nascent in many of the young people she works with. One boy is determined to go to Stanford and develop a cure for Alzheimer’s. He turned down a formal leadership role in the school because he wanted other students to have their chance. “His character is so strong already,” Santos observes. “Clearly he’s a leader and already an active role model for his peers; and he’s already someone who’s an ambassador of the school.”

Santos encouraged another young woman to take part in developing the school’s art curriculum. They were initially introduced when the girl got in trouble for breaking school rules, but Santos understood that kids break rules for a reason. “As educators, we know there’s usually something underneath that.” She looked for a way to connect, and when Santos realized she had a passion for art, invited the student to meetings with Idyllwild Arts Academy faculty where she could share her thoughts on the new art program. “I’m really looking forward to seeing her and what she becomes when she graduates from the school both in terms of her talent as an artist—but more so her voice, her voice as an artist and budding leader,” Santos says.

A Dynamic Community

Internationalized schools like Dipont’s offer unique learning experiences by immersing students in a hybrid environment, says Stephen Keown, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a senior leader at RDFZ King’s College School in the city of Hangzhou of eastern China. “You can very much see that our students are exposed to international personalities; and that exposure, even by itself, changes the character — the delivery and the environment — which is very enriching for them,” he says. “That, in turn, is really defining of the young people and how they develop as young adults.”

Since joining Dipont, Santos says her view of what global education entails has evolved, and it continues to develop as she learns more about her students. Essentially, though, she thinks it involves full immersion in another culture than the dominant one, and in which individuals are found in situations where “everybody is giving up something and gaining from each other almost equally.”

Beneath Santos’ vision for the Kunshan school is a wish to ensure that her young scholars learn how to contribute to the school’s culture and take ownership of it. In other words, becoming leaders in their own right. “Inclusion, opportunity, possibility, attention to all, to all scholars, all students,” are key, she says. “Meeting them where they are — but still keeping the same bar high no matter where one is at the time.”

Please note that since January 2022, Shanghai Huaer Collegiate School Kunshan has been known as Dipont Huayao Collegiate School Kunshan.

The post The Making of a Global Educator: Part 2 appeared first on Dipont Education.

Even as a little girl, Carol Santos, the founding head of Huaer Collegiate, gravitated towards education. “I was that kid who went to school and came home and played school,” she says. “Some kids play with dolls or video games. I literally played school.”

So when an opportunity to create a school entirely from scratch in China presented itself, she was thrilled and excited. Dipont Education, a pioneering company in Chinese international education, was launching the school in a bustling province just west of China’s biggest city, Shanghai. Santos would be tasked with developing the curriculum, hiring staff, and creating the school’s philosophy. It was both a daunting prospect and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

With an established reputation in China, Dipont presented a perfect match for Santos, an experienced educator who also happened to have an appetite for challenge. Over the past 20 years, the company has set up almost 30 programs working with schools across China and has established four K-through 12 independent schools. It partners with leading British institutions like King’s College School in Wimbledon to offer a blended education to Chinese students planning to study overseas. Santos’ school, Huaer Collegiate in Kunshan, would be the first Dipont school to prepare students to follow a curriculum with distinctive American elements.

The company’s ethos chimed with Santos’ personal convictions, honed after decades in secondary education and leadership. For her, global education is the ideal education for any student. Dipont Education originated in China, and the company’s strong Chinese connections ground it in local culture while its vision for contemporary education aims to integrate the best of Chinese and Western practices. “It truly is two worlds coming together,” Santos says.

The Impact of Mentors

Santos has spent much of her career in teaching and leadership positions in top private US schools. Over the past 25 years, she taught at Westover, a private girls’ school in Middlebury, Connecticut, Groton School in Massachusetts, and at Miss Porter’s School, a renowned girls’ boarding school also in Connecticut. Most recently she was head of Centennial Academy, a public day school in Atlanta, Georgia, where she spearheaded efforts to improve the students’ academic performance and embrace a culture of excellence. Her dedication to young people is underpinned by her own early experiences. Although she was a good student, she says, “I didn’t always feel good about being a good student. And I didn’t always feel good about being a black girl. And that had to do with experiences in school and about school.”

Growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Connecticut that was socio-economically mixed, Santos was targeted by others because of her high grades. Later, she formed part of a generation of students involved in “busing”— a policy of bringing black and economically disadvantaged students to schools in white neighborhoods, to encourage integration. Santos ended up being the only African-American student in her class. “We were very much aware that the families who attended that school didn’t want us to be there. As young people we were like, ‘We’re going to stick together.’ But I ended up on my own and isolated.”

As she went through the system, though, individual teachers offered a helping hand at pivotal moments and helped to guide her path. When she moved to high school she initially decided to take less challenging classes so as not to attract unwanted attention and another socially disconnected existence in school. But one day, an English teacher overheard her in the corridor telling another student she would not study Shakespeare. The teacher was astonished that a talented student would make that choice and confronted her—ultimately calling her mom to voice her concerns. “The next thing you know my whole schedule was changed and I was in all these advanced college prep classes,” Santos says. She went on to study business, earning a degree in economics at the University of Pennsylvania and has a Master’s in Education from Columbia University. She is also undertaking a doctorate in educational leadership at UPenn. “That teacher really changed the trajectory of my life.”

Bridging Cultures

Speaking on screen from her office in Kunshan, Santos expresses herself thoughtfully, giving weight and meaning to every word. Leaving her home in Georgia was not a straightforward choice. She has two children who stayed in the US, a 23-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son, but her son, in particular, urged her to seize the opportunity. She misses them a lot – and hopes it will be possible to return for her son’s graduation. “He may have an online graduation and if he has an online graduation at least I’ll feel as though I have the same experience as the other parents. I won’t feel so far away.”

In spring 2019 Santos traveled to China, meeting colleagues and beginning to assemble a team. It was a daunting task, which she likens to building a plane while also flying it. The process was facilitated by an excellent, smooth-running leadership team. “That was a blessing, that we could trust each other,” Santos recalls. “I think that probably is a key element.”

Moving to a new culture brings its benefits and drawbacks. Santos has acquired a love of Chinese cuisine – noodles, and stews in which meat falls off the bone. But if you ask what is lacking, the answer is simple. “I’m from New England, very close to New York, we’ve got good pizza where I’m from,” she says. “I have to tell you I’ve been missing pizza since I moved to Atlanta because their pizza is not as good as it is up north in the States. But their pizza is better than Chinese pizza.”

As an American woman heading an establishment in China, Santos has brought fresh ideas to overseas schooling. Typically, in private international schools, girls wear skirts or dresses as part of the uniform. But she pushed for the idea that girls could wear pants, sending photos of family friends to suppliers to convince them the right cut was possible. Despite its novelty, when winter fell, parents were clamoring. “I’ll tell you the parents and the girls are like, ‘It’s cold! Where are the pants? We want these pant options.’”

She finds her Chinese peers inordinately polite and respectful—sometimes excessively so. When colors for the school uniform were being discussed, Santos made her choice and presented it to the school’s leaders. She soon sensed that something was amiss. “They gave me a palette and I made a choice, ‘Okay, that one.’ I could have picked that one or another one within that shade or family. It really was not that big of a deal to me.”

She could tell they felt uncomfortable about openly disputing her choice. But they didn’t need to be. “All they had to say was, we like this shade better than that one because it looks better on Chinese skin. I could tell it was a heavy thing to them and I think more so because they were concerned about offending me.”

Please note that since January 2022, Shanghai Huaer Collegiate School Kunshan has been known as Dipont Huayao Collegiate School Kunshan.

The post The Making of a Global Educator: Part 1 appeared first on Dipont Education.

A new bilingual school in Kunshan, China, that is being developed by Dipont Education, has had its name confirmed.

It will be called Shanghai Huaer Collegiate School Kunshan or Huaer Collegiate for short. The name reflects the school’s location near the metropolis of Shanghai and honors the project’s Chinese partner, the No. 2 High School of East China Normal University, commonly referred to in Chinese as Huaer.

Huaer Collegiate will open from preschool to 10th grade in September 2020 and development is fast progressing. The campus in Kunshan’s Economic and Technological Development Zone is entering the final building stages and when complete will provide an outstanding learning environment for 2,800 scholars. The purpose-built campus will feature state-of-the-art science laboratories, a performing arts center with an 800-seat theater, and first-class sports complexes.

The school’s senior leadership team is now in place, including the founding head, Carol Santos, and Zhicong Li, who will serve as board principal. Other senior appointments include:

• Bett Alter, Dean of Student Life
• Jacqueline Speer, Preschool Principal
• Zoe Zou, Elementary and Middle School Principal
• Abanish Sharma, Upper School Principal
• Sharon Wan, Associate Principal
• Erica Curry, Associate Principal
• Mark Saunders, Director of Academics
• Nimo Shi, IT Manager.

Work on developing Huaer Collegiate’s unique curriculum is ongoing, while recruitment for a range of teaching positions has begun.

Whole child education

Initially, Huaer Collegiate will open from preschool to 10th grade. By 2022, the school will grow into a full upper school through 12th grade, offering AP classes and advanced specialized electives in all subject areas over the following two years.

The school will employ a blended Chinese and American curriculum, combining a drive for academic excellence with a whole child education program designed to nurture healthy, well-adjusted young adults.

Scholars will be encouraged to explore a broad range of interests outside of the classroom while developing the social skills and strength of character that will empower them for a future of resilient, ethical leadership anywhere in the world.

“Huaer Collegiate will be a community that embraces a special blend of Chinese and American cultures,” says Carol Santos, founding head. “It will empower each scholar to develop a voice and identity as an ambassador for China.”

Highly talented faculty

A range of teaching positions, from preschool to 10th grade, will be available to highly talented educators who embody the same high standards that will be expected of Huaer Collegiate graduates.

Every educator will be expected to contribute actively to the whole life of the school, working with scholars beyond the classroom in advisory, co-curricular and residential programs.

“It is my hope that Huaer Collegiate educators will enjoy coming to school so much that their curriculum will extend beyond the book, classroom or bell,” adds Carol. “We are building a diverse, enthusiastic and highly supportive community of teachers who are committed to academic excellence and the creation of opportunities for scholars to take charge of their learning with daring optimism and drive.”

Please note that since January 2022, Shanghai Huaer Collegiate School Kunshan has been known as Dipont Huayao Collegiate School Kunshan.

If you are a passionate and talented educator, keen to share in Huaer Collegiate’s ethos, please see our vacancies for the latest positions available in Kunshan.

The post Name confirmed for new Dipont school in Kunshan appeared first on Dipont Education.

The ‘topping out’ ceremony was held at the school construction site in the Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone. It was attended by representatives of all partners involved in the project.

The new campus is set to open in 2020. It is the latest K-12 school to be developed by Dipont in a unique partnership model with local government and a leading Chinese school. The partner school for this project is The No. 2 High School of East China Normal University, commonly referred to in Chinese as Hua’er.

During the ceremony, speeches were given by Carol Santos, the newly appointed founding head, Zhicong Li, principal of The No. 2 High School of East China Normal University, and Hui Li, deputy mayor of Kunshan Municipal People’s Government. All speakers expressed appreciation for those who had worked on construction, as well as their expectations for the school’s development.

Topping out is a rite in the building industry. A ceremony is traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during construction. Guests at the event witnessed this important step, marking the start of phase two of construction on the site.

Leadership team in place

The first appointments to the new school’s leadership team have been made and work has already begun on planning the curriculum, which will integrate educational practices and principles from the US into a bilingual Chinese curriculum.

Zhicong Li will serve as general principal. Having been principal of The No. 2 High School of East China Normal University since 2000, he has deep knowledge of Hua’er’s ethos and the Chinese educational system, which he will bring to the Kunshan project.

Carol Santos brings with her 25 years of experience as an educator and senior leader in prestigious independent schools in the United States. After serving as the assistant head at Groton School and then associate head of Miss Porter’s School, both premier boarding and day schools, Carol became the head of Centennial Academy. She led its conversion from a traditional US public school to a public charter school. 

Core members of the new management team, such heads of departments, are gradually being put in place. Educators from across the world will be sought for these positions in order to create a high-quality multicultural team. Vacancies at the Dipont Education K-12 school in Kunshan will be advertised on our website as they become available.

Please note that since January 2022, Huaer Collegiate has been known as Dipont Huayao Collegiate School Kunshan.

Are you a teacher or education professional? Check out our vacancies page for the latest teaching jobs in China.

The post Topping out ceremony held for Kunshan K-12 school appeared first on Dipont Education.

US citizen Carol Santos has been appointed to the school, which will open in 2020 and follow an American and bilingual Chinese curriculum. At capacity, the school, which will be located just west of Shanghai, is expected to cater to 2,800 students.

First international posting

This is the first international posting for Carol. She brings with her a record of delivering high-quality educational projects as well as senior leadership experience in prestigious, independent US boarding schools. Prior to joining Dipont, Carol was head at public day school Centennial Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. There she led efforts to operate more independently as a charter school, fostering a culture of excellence and improving student academic performance.

Carol has had a varied career in education. She has, among other things, taught mathematics to high school students, set up a summer science and engineering program for girls in Connecticut, coached varsity basketball, served as dean of students, coordinated student recruitment efforts, and developed teacher leadership systems that have allowed her staff to flourish. She has a bachelor’s (B.S.) in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s (M.Ed) in educational leadership from the Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently completing her doctorate (Ed.D) at the University of Pennsylvania.    

On her appointment, Carol said: “To start a school completely from scratch is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This is a really interesting and exciting project. I am looking forward to spending the next year developing the school’s educational model and physical and cultural environment. Being able to design a school from the ground up is a real privilege. I’m very grateful to Dipont for allowing me to bring my leadership experience to this project.”

A ‘model for cultural fusion’

The new campus in Kunshan is the third K-12 school to be developed by Dipont in a unique partnership model with local government and a leading Chinese school. It follows the successful opening of Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi and RDFZ King’s College School Hangzhou in 2018.

Dipont’s educational partner for the project in Kunshan is The No. 2 High School Affiliated With East China Normal University. The school is highly regarded for its progressive approach to educational development and its teacher training.

Over the next year Carol and the founding team of representatives from Dipont, the educational partner and government, will plan the new school. This includes everything from its curriculum and ethos to the design of the campus.

Carol says she hopes to see the school become a model for cultural fusion and to showcase the value of people coming to a true understanding of each other and each other’s cultures.

“I would hope the school will develop a daring culture,” she said. “A community that dares to seek understanding and that dares to soar with the truth that new understanding brings in order to serve others in ways that improve our world. I hope it will reflect its Chinese and American cultural backgrounds as well as offer a collegiate, high-achieving environment with limitless possibilities for students.”

Senior management roles in the school are already being recruited and most will be in place for August 2019. This will allow a year of preparation prior to the school opening. Vacancies will be advertised on Dipont’s website as they become available.

Please note that since January 2022, Huaer Collegiate has been known as Dipont Huayao Collegiate School Kunshan.

Are you a teacher or education professional? Check out our vacancies page for the latest teaching jobs in China.

The post Founding head for new Kunshan American school appeared first on Dipont Education.

This will be delivered with international pedagogy during the compulsory Chinese education phase at elementary and junior high level.

The new school, which is located just west of Shanghai in eastern China, will be the third K-12 school to be developed by Dipont in a unique partnership model with local government and a leading Chinese school. It follows the successful opening of Nanwai King’s College School Wuxi and RDFZ King’s College School Hangzhou in 2018.

A year of preparation

Dipont’s partner for the Kunshan school is The No. 2 High School Affiliated With East China Normal University. The school is highly regarded for its progressive approach to educational development and for its teacher training. Furthermore, it was one of the first experimental schools in Shanghai.

Vacancies for senior management roles in the school are already being advertised. Most of these will be in place for August 2019 to allow a year of preparation prior to the school opening.

Construction on the new school is progressing well and will be complete by February 2020. When it is fully finished, the campus will consist of:

• A kindergarten for Chinese and expatriate children aged 3 to 6 years. It will offer a bilingual program with elements of both Chinese and American curricula.
• A Chinese elementary and junior high school for Chinese students in Grades 1 to 9. Students will study the mandatory Chinese curriculum delivered with a modern pedagogical approach. Lessons will be in both Chinese and English.
• An international high school for both Chinese and expatriate students. The school will provide an American curriculum and Advanced Placement courses (with the option of the IB Diploma being implemented later).
• State-of-the-art facilities. These include: modern classrooms, a large multi-purpose sports hall, a 50-meter indoor swimming pool, fitness center, playing fields, 400m running track, performing arts auditorium for 800 people and boarding facilities.

A learning community aspiring to excellence

In addition to academic success, the school will focus on delivering a holistic educational experience for students, with an emphasis on high quality pastoral care alongside opportunities for students to excel outside the classroom. Dipont schools educate students to become innovative and collaborative individuals with a comprehensive worldview. The schools aim to develop young people into reflective learners, critical thinkers, confident communicators and responsible future leaders.

About Kunshan

Kunshan lies to the west of Shanghai city and can be reached in under 20 minutes by high speed train. Considered a satellite city of Shanghai, Kunshan has topped the list of the 100 best county-level cities for the past 14 years.

The new campus is well-located in the Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, a mature area with a beautiful sports park adjacent to the school, high quality residential areas and a shopping mall.

Kunshan has a fascinating history but is also one of the most modern and progressive areas of China. Adding to the city’s reputation for educational development, Duke University opened its China campus in Kunshan in 2018, which caters for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Are you a teacher or education professional? Check out our vacancies page for the latest teaching jobs in China.

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