Tongzhou breaks ground for 12-year public school

"Beijing School", a public school designed to offer 12 years of education in a row covering elementary, middle high and senior high sections, started construction on Saturday in Lucheng town, Tongzhou district, the capital's sub-center, marking an important step in the construction of educational facilities in the area.

Covering an area of around 20 hectares and adjacent to the core of Tongzhou, when complete it will widen access to school for the children living in this district and of families who move to Tongzhou due to relocated non-capital functions.

"Beijing School will adopt a new school system to provide 12 years of education in a row. We may shorten or prolong the length of schooling at different stages and make the textbooks of different grades better connected", said Gao Chao, who is in charge of setting up the school.

"The school recruited over 100 graduates as teachers starting two years ago, most with a master's degree or a Ph.D. They are now teaching at other schools to improve themselves and gain experience," he added.

Plans for Beijing School include 48 classrooms for the elementary section, 30 for lower secondary and 30 for upper secondary.

The elementary section of the school, in the north part of the blueprint, was the first to be built and is projected to be completed next July and start enrollment next September. By the end of 2019, the construction of the secondary section, in the south part of the blueprint, would also come to an end.

"Beijing School will be a new example for promoting the all-around development of students, offer a test field for educational policies, establish a reputation for excellent education quality and build up a pool of talented teachers", said Wang Qiang, deputy-director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

A "shared-by-all" area that functions as a sports center, a cultural exchange venue and arts hub is to be built in the middle of the school and opened to nearby residents. People living in Tongzhou are expected to "share" the sports stadium to play basketball, badminton, table tennis and hockey, and theater in the school on weekends.

The construction of Beijing School will be fully funded by the Beijing municipal government.