Marlborough High School goes global
By Hilary Shepard Contributing Writer

Marlborough - The Sept. 11 School Committee meeting opened with a moment of silence, but the mood quickly changed as committee members discussed what is ahead for the academic year, and the positive developments that have already occurred.

Marlborough High School (MHS) senior Alexandra Hanlon discussed the new academic schedule, a nine-day rotation with seven classes, that adds 25 additional hours to each class's yearly total, when compared to the 2006- 2007 schedule.

According to Hanlon, the new schedule will result in "better test scores, and better relationships with the teachers."

The new schedule allows for several Extended Learning Blocks (ELB), where students are able to spend two or more consecutive blocks of time with one teacher.

One class that will particularly benefit from ELB, according to MHS Principal Mary Carlson, is the school's first-ever Mandarin Chinese class, taught by new teacher Frances Cook. ELB will allow students in the class to explore both the Mandarin language itself and Chinese culture and economics as well.

There are currently three sections of beginning Mandarin Chinese, with a total enrollment of 60 students. Carlson plans to expand the Chinese language program through to the Advanced Placement level. Students in the beginning class will learn Pinyin (a phonetic system), character formation and simple sentence structure. Students will learn approximately 300 characters in order to engage in basic conversation.

The decision to include Mandarin, MHS's first Asian language offering, came in part after Carlson, accompanied by World Language Coordinator Maureen Greulich, attended the Chinese Bridge Delegation in Beijing.

Speakers at the delegation, which took place from June 24 to July 2, addressed a group of more than 1,000 educators from the United States and Korea about the need to include Asian languages in school curriculum, because Asia has become an integral, and growing, part of the global economy. Students will need to know Asian languages to compete in the global marketplace.

Carlson and Greulich walked those in attendance at the meeting through a slide show of their trip, which included stops to Chinese classrooms, where all children study English as their foreign language.

The trip also included stops to China's many scenic and cultural sites.

One of the goals of the trip, according to Carlson and Greulich, was to "foster bridges of understanding." Indeed, Carlson and Greulich met several educators from both China and Korea with whom they are developing a cultural exchange program. Students at MHS will be able to connect with students from China and Korea, and perhaps visit.

One of the goals of MHS is: "Prepare students for their future." According to Carlson and Greulich, offering a Chinese language class will do just that, by enabling students to communicate in the increasingly globalized economy.

Mayor Nancy Stevens, who chairs the School Committee, agreed. She said she had spoken with the CEO of one of the major corporations in Marlborough, who has several employees in China. According to Stevens, the CEO was impressed with the school's decision to offer Mandarin Chinese.

Other news

Not all new developments in the Marlborough school system have been quite so positive. Superintendent Barbara McGann noted in her report that the central registration was having "growing pains." She also noted that there was unexpected growth at Richer Elementary School, which is currently being looked into.

As a concluding comment to the meeting, committee member Cosmo Valente noted his hopes for the coming school year.

"We are at the beginning of another great year," he said.

Stevens echoed both Mc- Gann's and Valente's sentiments by using a personal anecdote.

"As a parent of a high school student," Stevens said, "I would agree that this is going to be a great year."