The Beginning - a school of long history …
Fremont Chinese School (FCS) was founded in 1972, and is entering its 52-year this year. In the very beginning, it was a home school with little more than 10 students, established by parents who wanted their children to learn about their heritage. After 51 years, with the effort and support by all parents, now the school has close to 200 students. FCS is a non-profit educational organization; the administration staffs are entirely made up by the parents of the enrolled students of the school, where majority of the students reside in the Fremont area. The School operates on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm, on the campus of Irvington High School in Fremont.
Today - consists of able administrative staffs, helpful parent association, fantastic teachers, and wonderful students …
As of now, FCS has more than 200 registered students, with 30 plus teaching staffs. In addition to the traditional language classes, there are also plenty of electives to choose from. Language classes accept students from pre-kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. Students in 9th to 12th grade will enroll in AC classes. For students in kindergarten to 8th grade, there are also CSL classes available for those who are not from a Mandarin speaking family. For the electives, the choices are brush painting, western style drawing, cartoon, abacus, hand crafts, go board games, Chinese yoyo, soccer, and basketball.
Students in the traditional kindergarten class will learn the bo-po-mo-fo phonics system, while students in the traditional 1th grade to 8th grade will use Children's Chinese Reader Book 1-12 as the textbooks, accompanied with the award winning exercise books authored and compiled by the FCS teachers. Students in high school are automatically enrolled in the AC classes, where the credits earned in these classes will be accepted to fulfill the foreign language requirements in the area high schools. The textbooks used for Level 2 through 4 in the AC classes are the very popular Integrated Chinese used by many colleges and universities in the U.S. The textbooks for Level AP are the AP Chinese authored and compiled by the National Normal University in Taiwan.
The students of FCS are very outstanding both inside and outside the school. There are many who have represented FCS to participate in ANCCS and NCACLS culture contest, and won championships or placed in the top three. There are also students who have represented FCS in the ANCCS Academic Contests, competitions, and sports tournaments, and placed in the top 3 or earned honorable mentions.
Our Parents and Staffs - great service and great activities …
The organization chart of the school starts with the All Parent Assembly, which has the ultimate authority of all school issues. Various departments of the administrative staffs carry out all school functions. Currently, there are about 50 administrative staffs. School Board monitors the school budget,and arbitrates the school policies as well as the personnel administration. Lastly, there is also the Parent Representative Association which supports the intra-school events and activities. There are 2 parent representatives from each class that make up the body of the Parent Representative Association. With collaborations between staffs and parent association, the school was able to provide service and fun for the big FCS family.
Our Teachers – fantastic, wonderful, and excellent …
Another fantastic characteristics of FCS is our teachers, they work hard and continue improving themselves. They teach diligently in the school, and also participate in various teachers workshops and attend conferences outside the school. The FCS Teachers Association was established in 2001. The Association not only provide mentors for junior teachers, set up workshops and meetings to share their experiences, but also provide valuable input to the Academic Department so the teachers and the department can better work together. In 2007, the College Board started online testing for AP Chinese. The FCS AC teachers worked together to put together a set of practice AP Chinese online test in that year, helping the students tremendously.
Our Contribution to the Community - actively participate in community events and solving issues …
FCS is committed to advance the Chinese language learning in the community. In 1994, FCS could not accept all students who wanted to enroll, so FCS helped established the Tri-City Chinese School in the northern Fremont area. FCS not only provided operational information for administration and organization, but also provided teaching staffs for the new school. FCS constantly collaborates with other area Chinese schools so all Fremont area students can benefit.
FCS also recognizes the needs to immerse into the community, and actively participates in the community events. For example, the 4th of July Parade of Fremont, American Cancer Society Relay for Life walk in June, etc. FCS also takes the lead to coordinate the AP Chinese online testing in the Fremont Unified School District. Lots of FCS parents and staffs volunteer to pre-setup the computers and proctor the testing, and the FUSD and the area students benefit directly from this effort.。
Our goal is to enhance understanding and communications between Chinese communities and other ethnic groups.
Conclusion…
FCS started and grew in the 20th century. After 51 years of diligent hard work and persistence, we have reached where we are today. FCS will continue to serve the community, advance the learning of the Chinese language, and participate in the community events, so as to immerse the education of the Chinese language to the whole community. Let us become the center of the resource for the community and start a new era!