Beecher Road School hosts Chinese principals

The Beecher Road School marching band led Woodbridge Superintendent Dr. Guy Stella, First Selectman Ellen Scalettar and 17 visiting Chinese principals through the school's hallways. On their walk through the school, students lined the hallways and greeted the visitors in Chinese.

The principals are on a two-week tour of Connecticut schools, part of a decade-long exchange between Connecticut and China.

Beecher Road School Assistant Principal Nancy White has visited China twice, including Beecher’s sister school. “You learn that the kids are the same: they have the same hopes and dreams and sense of humor,” she says. Despite the differences in culture and education systems—it’s not unusual to see a class of 40 or 50 students and high schools with 8,000 students—she was impressed with the similarities.

Before the principals toured the school, they spoke with Dr. Stella and First Selectman Scalettar through an interpreter. Both spoke of the importance of the educational and cultural exchange between the two countries.

“We are so pleased to be part of the continuing relationship between Connecticut and Chinese educators. Dr. Stella and our Woodbridge educators have learned a great deal from their visits to your schools in Shandong Province,” said Scalettar. “They have come home with new ideas and excitement about new opportunities for learning and growth.”

Dr. Stella recalled a video conference between Beecher Road School and its sister school in China. During the conference, the children sang to each other and asked questions like, ‘What do you have for lunch?’ and ‘How much homework do you have?’

“You could have chosen thousands of schools but you came here to Woodbridge,” Dr. Stella told them through an interpreter. “You are the true heroes: the educators helping to build a bridge between two cultures and promoting the free exchange of ideas through collaboration and support.”