Captain Nathan Hale Middle School in the rural town of Coventry Connecticut hosted Gu Wenming in 2016-2017 and Li Chunping in 207-2018. After two years hosting exchange teachers with TCLP, the school of about 400 students in grades 6-8 is prepared to launch its own sustainable program in the 208-2019 school year. The school announced in the spring of 2018 that they will share a Mandarin teacher with a neighboring school district and will also expand Chinese language education to the high school.
Principal Dena DeJulius shared how the school was able to create a sustainable program using TCLP and the school’s plan for the future. For Capt. Nathan Hale Middle School, hosting an exchange teacher through TCLP allowed the school to not only offer Chinese classes, but also critically for program sustainability, promote the program to parents, community members, and the Board of Education. As a result of strong support for Chinese language education, school leaders, including DeJulius, created a plan for the district to continue Chinese in the Middle School and begin offering classes at Coventry High School as well. The school’s plan and proposed budget were supported by the Board of Education and the district hired an experienced and talented teacher of Mandarin Chinese.
DeJulius captured the district’s excitement for this new chapter in their language program, saying “in addition to continuing to provide opportunities to enhance our parents’ and community’s appreciation of Chinese culture and language, we will continue to promote our program and showcase the tremendous learning opportunity and achievement of our students as many continue in year three of their study of Chinese language.”