New China Partnership

We’re pleased to announce that Independent Education’s board of trustees has approved a partnership between Independent Education and the Ameson Education and Culture Exchange Foundation in Shanghai, a relationship that will provide students, teachers, and administrators in Independent Education member schools a wide range of opportunities to work with peers in some of China’s highest performing schools.

Founded in 1994, Ameson is a non-governmental organization that promotes exchanges at the school and college level worldwide and that is currently working with Harvard, Stanford, and other leading universities. A delegation of Independent Education representatives led by President Dick Ewing of Norwood School toured schools and met with educators and education officials in five cities in October as guests of Ameson. The visit highlighted the potential of a partnership with the foundation to help Independent Education member schools recruit highly qualified students and teachers, provide tremendous professional development opportunities to teachers and administrators, create valuable educational experiences for students, and help establish Independent Education schools as leaders in global education in the Washington region.

Some 30 Chinese high school students will arrive in Washington on January 29^th to spend a week at three Independent Education member schools as the first step in the Ameson partnership, part of what will be annual visits to our schools by Chinese high school and middle school students during their mid-winter break. We have discussed with Ameson a number of additional opportunities for our elementary, middle, and high schools that we hope to develop in the next year or two. (Members may view a summary of opportunities here. PLEASE NOTE: You must be logged in to view this page.)

The Independent Education-Ameson partnership will be fully funded by grants from Ameson to Independent Education and we are pleased to have Xiumin Overall help coordinate our first programs. Xiumin is a Bullis School parent and trustee who traveled with the delegation to China in October and is a fluent Chinese speaker.

It is exciting to announce this new Independent Education initiative during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Washington, an event that underscores the growing importance of U.S.-Sino relations in today’s world and the value to our schools in being able to participate in that critical relationship.