Yale-China in New Haven Schools

New Haven Public School students visit Yale-China

As part of its educational mission, Yale-China works to bridge the gap between China and all students in New Haven – not only those at Yale. Read about some of our activities below and enjoy our slideshows to learn more.

Featured slide show

New Haven Public Schools students who study Mandarin Chinese were invited to lunch with the dance troupe behind Yale-China’s 2012 Lion Dance.

Yali students perform at Yale-China as part of the Yali-Foote exchange.

A teacher from Yali Middle School introduces Chinese culture to students at the Foote School.

Yali – Foote Exchange

Yale-China has helped to foster a teacher exchange program between the Foote School in New Haven and partner schools in China since 1999. The exchange now sends a Yali Middle School teacher to New Haven to teach at Foote for a semester each fall, while Foote has sent ninth graders to visit Changsha.

Beyond the life-changing experience afforded each Chinese teacher, the exchange has exposed countless American students and host families to China. The Foote School has now introduced courses in Chinese history and language, and students at Yali and Foote regularly correspond by email. As with the teaching fellowship program, this program plays a vital, yet personal, role in allowing Chinese and American people to interact at an impressionable age.

Cultural Enrichment for New Haven Public Schools Students

With 800 students of Mandarin Chinese in the New Haven Public School system, Yale-China plays a vital role in broadening and deepening these students’ understanding and appreciation of the language and culture they are studying. Events have ranged from a guided tour of Yale-China’s Hunan silk embroidery exhibit, to a private lunch with a lion dance troupe, to a presentation about the life of high school students in China.