Contributed by:
Julie Cheng, Alumni Parent (Yichen and Yici’s mother, respectively enrolled in 2011, 2012, left
Pao School in 2013, 2019, the child is currently at: SenseTime (Shanghai), Concord College (UK))
Before we joined Pao School, my oldest child was in Year 6 at a public school and was having a difficult time. Indeed, adolescence is a challenging time in one’s life. We were eager to find a way to help my child out and coincidentally I heard from other parents that Pao School was recruiting Year 7 students and opening a middle school in Songjiang with a boarding programme.
I had also much earlier heard good things from a friend about Pao School’s primary school. I was familiar with the concept of whole-person education, but I didn’t consider enrolling my child in the school because the campus was too far away from where we lived. But, due to the boarding programme, that was not an issue for the Songjiang campus and we rushed to apply for a spot in Year 7. We, fortunately, made the deadline and when we got the news my son had been accepted, we literally jumped for joy. That feeling of elation remains vivid in my mind.
By the summer of 2014, Pao School had its first cohort of middle school graduates. Although my eldest son had left Pao School by then, he still considered himself part of that first graduating cohort, so I did not regard myself as an outsider. At the invitation of Julia, the then Chairman of the Songjiang Campus Family Committee, I drafted the graduation ceremony speech, including a poem that depicted life on the Songjiang campus during those two years:
Standing side-by-side with the school,
With countless firsts,
I still remember,
That hot summer three years ago,
Founder facing the blazing sun,
Running and running through the campus construction site,
I still remember,
The constant improvement of campus facilities,
The swimming pool, library, auditorium, laboratory...
May the children make good use of them, let others feel envy and sigh!
I still remember,
The fragrant aroma of coffee in the fourth-floor conference room,
At the "Principal’s Coffee Time",
Information sharing between schools and parents.
I still remember,
The monthly meeting in the principal's reception room,
That's the principal, the head of the school
Engaging with PTA representatives.
I will always remember that time in Year 7,
20 teachers, 75 children,
On the luxuriant campus
Day and night sharing joys and sorrows,
We were as close as a family.
Students,
More and more by the year,
As Principal Tony also looks trimmer by the year...
By 2017, when Pao School's first high school students graduated, my eldest son had already left the school four years prior. Despite this, he still felt that he was part of the community and was very active in attending the graduation ceremony of his classmates. Tony Jaccaci, the first Principal of the Songjiang campus, who played an important role in building the Middle School at Songjiang, had already moved back to the United States at that time. Nevertheless, he still made the trip back to Pao School so he could see the first cohort of graduates complete their studies at the High School. My son said that Tony, the teachers, and the students were all overcome with emotion when the former principal returned for this momentous occasion.
Group photo of the first student registration day on Songjiang campus
On the day of the fifth anniversary of the establishment
of the school, my son and his classmate Elton introduced
the campus to Anna Sohmen Pao and the guests
Group photo of the first class of graduating middle
school students at the Songjiang campus
Both of my children and I have benefited greatly from our time with Pao School, with the enduring friendships we have built being one of the most important aspects of the experience. Though my son only studied at Pao School for two years and has been away from the school for nearly nine years, he stays in regular contact with his classmates and friends from Pao School. Recently, as more and more former Pao School students have returned to Shanghai, it is also very popular for the alumni to meet up.
It has been three years since my daughter left Pao School. She is now living in the UK, where she is making good friends and having a fruitful experience. As for myself, I have benefited greatly from Pao School’s global network of alumni and parents. In addition, I have met many like-minded folks among Pao School parents, who like me appreciate travel, exercise, live performances, and in general love to learn. Even when children graduate from Pao School, the friendships their parents forge with each other will last a lifetime!
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