FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 is pursuing a partnership to offer a dual-diploma program to students attending Beijing No. 2 Middle School in China, which serves grades 10 through 12.
The district stands to gain at least $60,000 the first year and $120,000 the second year. The figures do not factor in revenue for the third year.
The majority of the revenue received will be used to re-establish the district’s world language program at the elementary grade level, which was eliminated during past budget constraints.
The majority of the 16-member school board approved moving forward with a three-year contract for the program on June 27.
The Beijing No. 2 Middle School is one of the best schools in China, RSU 9 Superintendent Tom Ward told the board.
It is one of three schools that serve 15,000 students.
If the dual diploma program goes smoothly, the district could potentially work with the two other schools, Leanne Condon, RSU 9 curriculum director/assistant superintendent, said.
The two partnering schools will jointly operate the college preparatory co-educational program, offering both a Chinese high school diploma at the Beijing No. 2 school and a U.S. diploma at Mt. Blue High School, according to information provided at the board meeting.
Lisa Darymple, world language teacher at Mt. Blue and director of the district’s International Student Program, has been working on developing partnerships with schools in China and a dual diploma program for three years.
High schools in Maine, both public and private, are already working with schools in China and offering dual diplomas, including Stearns Junior-Senior High School in Millinocket.
Ward said he met with a couple of the superintendents at a conference to discuss how it works.
Dalrymple introduced the International Student Program in a business plan proposal to the school board in 2014 and received approval. The idea was to bring tuition-paying students from foreign countries, mostly China, to study their senior year at Mt. Blue Campus.
The district put a total of $60,000 into the program over three years but the board declined to fund it in the proposed 2017-18 budget. The program brought in nearly $100,000 in tuition in the past two years. The majority of it was reinvested into the program, used for developing partnerships, marketing, legal services and traveling to foreign countries.
The Beijing school had a previous partnership with a Christian school in California but wanted to work with a public school, Ward said.
RSU 9 will send staff members twice a year to train teachers in China.
It was discussed on June 27 that Dalrymple and Condon would go to China to train teachers the first time. The second time, Condon, who is wrapping up two major district projects, expects she will go alone to do the training. She estimated it will take her seven to eight days a year, including travel time.
The Chinese students involved will be taught courses in Chinese by a Chinese teacher and in English by a teacher outside of China. The Chinese students will study in China the first two years, with 15 coming over each summer for a two-week program. Fifteen Chinese students will spend their senior year at Mt. Blue High School. It will allow the district to monitor the program.
Requirements to get a dual diploma are a minimum of 24 credits and a cumulative grade point aerage above 70.
The Beijing school will pay $1,000 to RSU 9 for each student. There will be 60 students the first year, and it is estimated 120 students the second year.
It will also pay $500 for each student to the American Youth Camp Global Education Group in Waterville. The agency will handle all money transactions and will pay the expense of RSU 9 sending the curriculum and staff to China, including travel, lodging and meals. It will also help with communications, project implementation and translation between Mt. Blue and Chinese partners, if needed.
The 15 students studying at Mt. Blue their senior year will each pay a tuition rate of $18,300, $1,000 for insurance and $6,500 for home stays in the Farmington area, Condon said.
If everything is approved with the Chinese government, the district would receive its first check in July and a second one in early 2018.
Lisa Dalrymple is director of Regional School Unit 9’s International Student Program at Mt. Blue Campus in Farmington.
Leanne Condon, Regional School Unit 9 director of curriculum/assistant superintendent, went to China in November 2015 to learn about the Chinese culture as part of the district’s International Student Program at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington.
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