The Hill School’s Chinese language program was named named a Confucius Classroom in January 2011 – an honor bestowed by HanBan (an official branch of the People’s Republic of China’s Office of Chinese Language Council International) in collaboration with the Asia Society.
As part of its mission of promoting intellectual exchange between China and other nations and stimulating knowledge and understanding of the Chinese language and culture, prestigious HanBan-designated Confucius Classrooms are selected from public and private elementary, middle, and high schools in the U.S. based upon their “potential to serve as national models of excellence in the field of Chinese language teaching and learning,” according to the Asia Society’s notification correspondence.
Hill’s detailed application was completed by Chinese teacher Hsiao-Ning Tu, one of two Chinese instructors at the 160-year-old private college preparatory boarding school.
As a member of the highly selective 60-member
Confucius Classrooms network, The Hill will receive resources including a generous grant to help fund classroom programs, teacher training and enrichment, and student and faculty travel over the next three years, including “sustainable exchange partnership” initiatives with a still-to-be-determined sister school in China. In turn, Hill will fulfill HanBan-Asia Society responsibilities such as serving as a regional center for professional development and participating in the Asia Society’s conferences and online community.
Recent projects sponsored by the Confucius Classroom include: