HallDale High School Steve MacDougall

Suzhou…Final thoughts

2008-04-14T11:30:01Z

The SSIS Team

2008-04-11T12:26:00Z

Thursday is our last full day at SSIS for the visiting team, as many will travel back on Friday afternoon to their respective countries. Pictured here is the team - from left to right:

Me - Principal Hall-Dale High School, Maine
Mike Methot - Director Languages, Franklin, MA
Xiajing - International Academy - China
Wang - Western Academy - Beijing
Sue Charest - Team Secretary - Bristol / Plymouth, MA
Ed Greene - Director International School - Amsterdam
Linda Turner - President Urban College of Boston, MA
Ron Entwistle - IB Diploma Program Coordinator - UAE
Chris Simcox - International School - Thailand
Kelley Parades - IT Coordinator - International School in London
Chad Walsh - International School - Tianjin, China
Urs Junge - IB Dipoma Coordinator - Guangzhou, China
Colette Matta - International College - Beirut
Simon Taylor - Chair - Yokohama International School, Japan

Day6

2008-04-10T12:21:00Z

We held an emergency evacuation drill yesterday. Remember that SSIS has 1420 students and about 200 staff. Within 7 minutes, everyone had been evacuated and then it was determined that one female Chinese student was unaccounted for. Within 2 minutes, they knew that she had passed the guarded gates, went home to pick up an assignment, and was then “caught” by the school administration. Teachers had the safety drill procedures down to a science. You see in the second photo the SSIS staff who do not have classes in the foreground and in the background are students lined up by class and teacher. The man with the gray jacket and “roadcrew” vest to the left is the Director of SSIS.
Lastly, toward the end of the day I went to the main lobby just to relax. En route, I took this photo to show you the international flavor of the school. Look at the faces. The kiosks are displays of student work that change twice a week.

Censorship, School construction, and ESL

2008-04-08T13:29:00Z

China day 3-4

2008-04-07T11:35:01Z

We visit the school for a tour of the facility on both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning - a good opportunity before the 1600 students from nursery school right through grade 12 rain down upon us. The facility is one of the largest I have ever seen. You begin to get some sense of its size by looking at the photo of the school lobby as seen from a 2nd floor balcony.
Student work is every where and it adds so much color to the building. In keeping with Asian tradition, the grounds are very well-maintained and feature local flora such as bamboo, flowering cherry, Japanese maple, magnolia. (3rd photo)
Thinking of my students back at Hall-Dale, I took the photo of the room dedicated solely to playing ping-pong (you can see me taking the photo in the mirrored wall in the back left). But if that isn’t enough of a work out, how about a dip in the full-sized, six-lane, heated pool. And SSIS plans to almost double its size with new construction in the very near future. It takes about 20 minutes to drive to the school, and it is surrounded by green spaces and 12-18 story apartment complexes that house workers and their families who man the companies and businesses located in this business park.
I’ll update you again shortly!

Suzhou Day #2

2008-04-04T13:59:00Z

Suzhou is pronounced “Sue -jo” simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Szhu; ancient name: ) is a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens which have contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Suzhou has also been an important centre for China’s silk industry and continues to hold that prominent position today. The city is part of the Yangtze River Delta region. The GDP per capita was ¥79,406 (ca. US$10,087) in 2006, ranked no. 5 among 659 Chinese cities.

I am serving as co-chair of a visiting team that will evaluate and accredit Suzhou Singapore International School (SSIS). This school was built in 1995 to educate the many expatriates who work in the numerous international businesses in Suzhou International Park. My team consists of 14 educators - 4 from the US and the other ten coming from places such as Japan, Netherlands, Thailand, United Arab Emirate, England.

Arrival

2008-04-03T14:33:01Z

First impressions: the people are friendly and cordial and the area is immaculate. Pudong airport is a sight to behold with gleaming floors, courteous and helpful staff, and even parking spots near the terminals themselves that have shiny laminated surfaces where you actually park your vehicle and then attendants clean the area when you leave! On the ride from the airport to Suzhou, the roadway is very attractive with well-groomed and colorful median strips, hedges trimmed along the guardrail areas, and not a bit of paper or trash to be seen anywhere on route.

We were greeted at the hotel by very friendly staff who refer to me as Mr. Stephen and go out of their way to accommodate my every needs. The first photo you see as an attachment is taken from my room and shows the number of new units constructed to house the many, many people who live in this area. You can also see canal work adjacent to the housing complexes - and that is prevalent throughout this area. Note the neatness of the units and the uniformity.

Those same canals progress into the inner city and old shopping area of Suzhou - thus the reason it is referred to as the Venice of China. You can also see that cherry bloosoms are beginning to bloom. Not uncommon to see a KFC next to a temple, as the next photo shows.

Don’t walk across any street with looking both ways many times and then being very careful during the crossing - because taxis, cars, busses, and even bikes won’t stop for you. You’ll hear horns beeping regularly - but here it is to remind others to look and be careful - not a signal of anger or frustration all the time! The gentleman I am standing with watched anxiosuly as I was shooting phots and I asked him to join me. His job? He stands watch over the many bikes and motor scooters in the shopping area.