Experimental High School Attached To Beijing Normal University - About

About

SDSZ is an experimental base for instituting the teaching re-forms of the Ministry of Education and Beijing Normal University, as well as a cradle for training middle school students from all parts of China.

The school motto is "Honesty, sincerity, strictness, truth seeking and pioneering".

Founded in 1917, it was formerly known as the "Girls' High School Attached to Beijing Normal University.". Alumni include scientists Hao Yichun (academician to the Chinese Academy), Hun Queen (former vice-president of China Science Institute) and Lu Shijia, female journalists Pu Xixiu and Chen Baisheng, as well as woman general Nie Li and female artist Xiao Shufang. Scholars and educators such as Ma Yinchu, Chen Jinmin, Fu Zhongsun, Cheng Chuntai, Min Sihe and Hu Jieqing used to teach in the school.

In 1984 the school pioneered curriculum reform in Beijing. The Chinese textbooks compiled by the school teachers were approved by the Ministry of Education and are now used nationwide. In 1995 with the permission of the Beijing Educational Commission, a further curriculum reform was initiated with the first year students of senior high school. The revised curriculum includes required subjects, specialized courses, elective courses and extracurricular activities.

In 1983 the reform project in moral education was established. The newly structured model system was based on students' self-management, and also students were given more freedom to attend activities in this area.

In 1996 the school began to exploit a new model of running a school. Based on this policy, the first joint-venture high school named Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada was established. With the permission of the government, a private-under-government-support school, called the "Branch of Experimental Middle School Attached to Beijing Normal University", and another private school, "Bei Luyuan Branch of Experimental Middle School Attached to Beijing Normal University" were established.

In 1993 the Ministry of Education set up a special science class with students from all over the country. They study at the school for three years. Applicants are junior middle school graduates who are the top ten students in maths and physics competitions in their provinces. The students complete the courses in a shorter amount of time than the regular classes,and are given more freedom to choose their own subject matter. All the students in the experimental classes are enrolled into universities upon graduation without having to take the entrance examinations.

Up till now, 13 of the students have received top level academic awards in international competitions. 94 students have received awards in the state competitions, and 1054 students have received awards in the Beijing competitions. With such achievements, the school was exempted from the State Examinations set for senior graduates by Beijing Education Commission (there are only two privileged schools in Beijing).

Since 1993 one hundred percent of the graduating class have been accepted to tertiary education. Among them about ninety percent entered key universities and colleges, with about twenty six percent enrolled in Qinghua University and Beijing University. Every year about ten students are selected by dozens of universities without taking entrance examinations.

All the teaching staff have met the state academic requirements. Young and middle-aged teachers occupy 63.2% of the staff. Over thirty teachers are city or district head-teachers in their subjects and some are heads of associations in their fields. In recent years, they have been involved in seven educational research projects at State or Education Ministry levels, and over a hundred research works have been published. Hundreds of these have been published in the state and city magazines. Many of these have received top awards in the district. In 2000, the school was evaluated as "the Advanced School in Research of Educational Science."

There is a strong focus on physical education and students' health. The female volleyball team and track team are known as the best teams in Beijing. With the reform of PE courses, required subjects and specialized courses were charged with a successful result. In 2000 the school was awarded a gold medal for the best promotion of students' health.

The school has received awards for promotion of international exchanges. Mr. Al Gore, the former vice president of the United States of America paid a visit to the school. Mrs. Annan, wife of Mr. Kofi Annan who acts as Secretary General of the United Nations came to visit this school. In the past ten years two hundred and twenty-six staff members and about two hundred students have studied at or visited schools in America, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, South Africa and North Korea. Besides, the school has sister schools, such as the Hong Kong-based Chinese International School and American Milton Academy in Boston, USA.