Chariho Opens Doors to Chinese Students

As last year’s school year came to a close, our very own principal Mr. MacKenzie traveled to China to establish a student exchange program with a high-achieving Chinese school.

Over the past year Chariho High School has acquired an F1 visa status, which means that Chariho can enroll students from around the world as Chariho students. Mr. MacKenzie said these students are different than the usual foreign exchange students who come to Chariho for one year, because students with the F1 visa can actually earn a Chariho High School diploma.

After the district earned the F1 visa status, Mr. MacKenzie was chosen as a representative of the Boston Globe, an agency which helps Chinese students study in the United States. His goal was to travel to China and establish a relationship with a school called Jiangdu.

When the last week of June came, Mr. MacKenzie flew to Shanghai and then traveled four hours west to the city of Yangzhou where Jiangdu is located. While he was at this school he toured the local schools and met with Jiangdu’s principal, Dr. Minglong Zhou.

On his tour he saw students with a tremendous work ethic. “It was something incredible” said Mr. MacKenzie. He said that during the summer Chinese students went to school for ten hours a day and then worked on extra-curricular enrichment. These activities included robotics, circuit-building, and English. And then after a full school day, they would willing study a little bit more to try to get ahead. MacKenzie was impressed with the students' academic dedication.

Mr. MacKenzie and Dr. Zhou both believe that giving Chinese students an opportunity at an American high school will help Chinese students who want to attend college in the United States by giving them an opportunity to transition to American culture.

“I think we built a good relationship with the school in the process of touring their school and meeting with their principal,” said Mr. MacKenzie.

While the Chariho district hoped to recruit a few students, they unfortunately did not recruit any. Mackenzie says, “It doesn’t mean it might not still happen sometime during the course of this school year. So, we are still optimistic about that.”

Chariho Superintendent Barry Ricci said the exchange program shows great opportunity for the future. He said, “Principal MacKenzie’s trip to China laid the foundation for a great school-to-school partnership.”

Also on the table is the fact that Chariho students may be able to study at the Jiangdu International School in the future. Although the district is not ready for that now, they are planning on implementing a Mandarin enrichment course and a Mandarin course in the years to come. Once the district becomes solid with their Mandarin program, the opportunity to offer extended study programs at Jiangdu to Chariho students would become a reality.

All of these opportunities will take some time to fully develop, so in the meantime, Mr. MacKenzie is currently focused on building a global school community through offering travel experiences, implementing technology in the classroom, and growing the presence of international students.

“We’d love to have students from cultures from around the world at Chariho, and I think it is helpful to our students because it gives them a perspective of others,” said Mr. MacKenzie. He says that one of Chariho’s missions is “to bring diversity into our school community, which is going to aid our students as they move into a very diverse global community.”