When the U.S. Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 and created “magnet” schools, it’s unlikely that anyone at the time thought this might lead to the creation of international magnet schools, especially ones headquartered in China. But that’s exactly Oxford Community Schools is launching this fall.

About 50 Chinese 10th graders have decided to enroll at Northeast Yucai Oxford International High School in Shenyang, China. Students there will be dual-enrolled, meaning they’ll be able to earn credits towards two diplomas: one from their China-based school and one from the Oxford school district.

Dr. William Skilling, superintendent at Oxford, has spent four years establishing NYO high school. He says there are a number of reasons why Chinese students want to enroll in this school.

“They want the American ways of teaching in China and this will be used as a model. This school will provide opportunities for students in China to not only develop better English skills, but to learn in new ways that are not test-driven. … We will create the conditions by which they learn to be members of a team, which is a foreign concept in China classrooms. We will give them opportunities to create and invent, which is a foreign idea.”

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