As many students know, 14 Chinese students from the Haidian Foreign Language School (the largest private boarding school in Beijing, China totaling 5,000 students in grades pre-k through 12) will be joining our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders this coming Friday. Ms. Covolo, the board of trustees, Mrs. Bryant (Director of Development), and Mrs. Gross (Director of Admissions) have been working for over a year to make this partnership a reality for our school. While some students are aware of all the exciting things that this partnership will bring to our school, many of us maybe unsure about what the plans are for the following months.

Last year, Ms. Covolo was approached by President Li, the President of the Haidian Foreign Language School, about starting an exchange program that sends students from his school, that have completed an intensive English studies program, to attend school at RMA and live an American lifestyle. President Li came to RMA to visit, was thoroughly impressed, and the plans were finalized for an exchange program.

Fast forward a year, and these plans are in full effect. The 14 highly anticipated students will fly into Washington, DC where they will be met by the RMA bus and brought to school to take a look at both our school and Greenfield School (where 12 other 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will be attending school until the end of this academic year). The students, along with their live-in chaperones have bought a whole street by Wesleyan College where they will live for the next several months. While the lower school will be interacting with these students every day, the upper school is getting a chance to be able to get to know them as well. Each member of the Global Studies Honors Program received a “buddy” that they will make welcome signs for and get to know in-depth over the next few months. These children will be completely immersed in the Rocky Mount Academy experience, and that is exactly what President Li wants. After touring RMA, he knew that our school (out of any school in the United States) was the one for his students. While on his tour, he expressed to Ms. Covolo that our students had a sense of pride about where they came from and confidence in themselves. RMA caught the eye of this very prestigious school for several reasons; however, the way we carry ourselves and represent our school and city were major factors in sealing the deal for this international partnership.

With so much emphasis on the current plans with the Haidian Foreign Language School, you may be wondering what the future holds with our partnership. When the 2015-2016 school year is over, RMA will continue to have the opportunity to host students every semester in grades 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. As this partnership strengthens we will look for ways to begin Mandarin as part of our curriculum. We look forward to this partnership and what the future holds between these two schools that are half a world apart!