Our Mission
The Mission of The Chinese Language School of Fairfield County is to provide an encouraging environment to learn Mandarin Chinese for anyone with a desire to learn the language, convey a sense of the art and artistry inherent in the Chinese language and traditional culture, and foster a life-long interest and appreciation for the Chinese language and culture in all of our students.
The School is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit entity and we are a non-denominational, non-partisan and independent institution. We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, nationality, religion, physical condition, or scholastic ability.
The School was originally founded as part of the Organization of Chinese Americans chapter for Fairfield County, Connecticut (now the OCA-FC) in 1975 by the parents of Chinese-American students living around lower Fairfield County. Since that time, we have attracted students from all over Connecticut, as well as from Westchester and Rockland counties in New York. Over the last forty-five years, over a thousand students have graduated from our School. Currently, we offer Chinese language courses for pre-K to high school students and our students have the choice of whether to learn Chinese using simplified or traditional writing systems. A typical non-adult student attending our school will, upon graduation, have received sufficient instruction to take the Chinese Language SAT II test or the AP Chinese Language and Culture exam the following academic year. However, we want to be more than a place of language instruction to our students – our goal is for them to enjoy their time with us and to view their classmates as friends, bound by a mutual desire and interest in learning Chinese.
Extracurricular Activities
We believe that as a living language, Chinese cannot be taught in isolation from its cultural background. As part of the School’s programs, we offer our students the opportunity to participate in cultural classes in Chinese arts & crafts, calligraphy, chess, painting, songs (chorus class), folk-dancing and martial arts. Many of these classes are guided by instructors specially hired for the purpose.