New charter school provides a boost for Guangzhou's tech hub

The Huangpu district government in the Guangdong provincial capital is expecting the Guangzhou branch of Granada Hills Charter School to play an important role in helping to promote its educational internationalization in the years ahead.

The district government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Granada Hills Charter School of the United States and the Markham International Education Group in October to jointly construct the Guangzhou branch of Granada Hills Charter School in the district, which has become a new high-tech and scientific innovation center in the southern metropolis.

According to the memorandum, it's estimated that the Guangzhou school will be able to cater to around 4,800 students from China and overseas every year.

Bilingual education will be introduced at the new school.

The Guangzhou branch, which will cover education from kindergarten, primary, junior and senior middle school, is planning to recruit about 400 teachers and related teaching staff members from abroad.

In addition to Sino-US senior middle school courses, the school will set up some college curriculums of the US, including AP (Advanced Placement), IB TOEFL and SAT, for senior middle school students, to help its students directly apply to colleges and universities in the US and other countries when they graduate.

Students at the school will be able to take part in exchanges with affiliated US schools for a month, a school term, a year, or even longer periods of time.

Professors and teachers from the US will regularly be invited to the school to give lectures, conduct academic exchanges and help build the school into a major training base for teachers in the mainland.

The school is expected to cater for both day students and boarders.

Zhou Yawei, member of the Standing Committee of Guangzhou Committee of CPC and Party secretary of Huangpu district, said construction of the school would help further raise the educational levels in the district and also help Huangpu promote educational internationalization.