Chinese Schools in the US

A great way for your child to learn Chinese and use it is to go to a Chinese School. There are over 500 programs for K-12 that teach Chinese in public schools, and over 1600 Chinese Schools that focus on ethnic Chinese in the US. Non-Chinese kids are welcome at the schools, especially since they are usually privately run and appreciate more students.  Here is a brief summary of some helpful information on Chinese Schools:

How to Find a Chinese School:

• Look at our Chinese School links page
• Chinese Phone Book
• References from other parents
• Call up a local Chinese Church and ask
• Ask at a local Chinese Restaurant

Importance of Education for Chinese:

• Education is seen as a way to improve your family status in society.
• Brings a lot of prestige to the family, when they can say, my son/daughter has a PhD from Stanford.

Types Of Schools:

• Cantonese
• Mandarin that teach Traditional Characters.
• Mandarin that teach Simplified Characters.

Categories of Schools:

• Church Run Schools
• For Profit Schools - Can vary from a babysitter taking care of some kids to after school care using the facilities of a local public school.  This is the largest type of schools.
• Non-Profit Schools, often run by a group of parents as a Coop.
• Public Schools

There are currently over 1600 Chinese Schools in the US and you want to send your child to the best one. Questions to ask are: Do they have a humanistic approach or are they rote based? Most of this information you can't find without going to the school and observing a class. One method is go to the school and find out if you like it. Talk to the teacher and the staff. Referrals are a great source of information!

Here is a link to some historical information on a summary of report on Chinese Schools which used to be part of ERIC.