School administrators spent three days teaching and learning from other educators as Noblesville High School hosted 23 high school principals from the Zhejiang Province of China from Feb. 24 to 26. The group came to observe American schools and see what they can take back to China to improve their schools.
“It literally was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” NHS Principal Jeff Bryant said. “The experience was unmatched. They’ve learned a lot, not just for their schools but all students.”
Bryant said the group, which was able to visit through the Chinese Education Connector organization, wanted to learn more about American education and how American students have choices in the kinds of classes they take. He said they were particularly interested in NHS’ wellness and music programs while Noblesville educators learned more about their science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. Bryant said the international educators remarked about student engagement and the role students have in their own education.
“It was fantastic for me because sometimes we take it for granted,” he said.
During their visit, the 23 principals observed classroom learning, sat through presentations and learned about NHS’ block scheduling, classes and different types of degrees offered.
“They met with a lot of teachers at school and answered more questions than you could imagine,” Bryant said. “It was a great experience for us too. We absolutely learned from them.”
Bryant said the visit was the most recent in a trend of collaboration. He said the high school is open to other educators to learn what NHS is doing and what they might be doing that Noblesville could implement.
“We are no longer an island,” he said. “They learn from us but every time we have a visitor we learn from them.”
