Yali High School

History

Founded in 1906 by Yale-in-China (雅礼协会), the Yali School（雅礼大学堂）was an American-owned private school during the first half of the 20th century and a public school since then. The name Yali 雅礼 (pinyin: Yǎ Lǐ) comes from the Analects of Confucius, meaning elegance of expression (ya 雅) and propriety of conduct (li 礼), and is a transliteration of Yale in the early 20th century. Yali's school colors are blue, white (Yale colors) and red (China).

Founding years

Brownell Gage, Warren Seabury, Lawrence Thurston, and Arthur Williams, all graduates of Yale College in the 1890s, founded Yale-in-China, and brought the mission to Changsha between 1901 and 1905. In 1906, the mission's preparatory school, or the Yali School, began operations. During the same year, Edward H. Hume, M.D., commenced the medical work in Changsha. His experiences are described in his 1946 book Doctors East, Doctors West: An American Physician's Life in China, (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.). In 1912 Yali's first graduates received degrees.

Continued success

The campus was expanded in 1914. By 1928, Yali started opening up its administrative and leadership roles to Chinese educators. While Yali students were known for their academic performance, they were also athletes, with the school's athletic teams - soccer, volleyball, track, for example - winning provincial and national tournaments.

World War II years

In 1938, Yali students and faculty moved to Yuanling in western Hunan to avoid bombing in Changsha during the Japanese invasion of China. Teaching continued in Yuanling for seven years before the school returned to Changsha in 1946.

Early PRC years

In November 1948, the US government started evacuating Americans in China. Dr. Dwight Rugh became the last Yale-China representative in China. In 1951, Dr. Rugh was brought to the new gym on the Yali campus in a school-wide meeting to condemn "American Capitalist Invaders"; he returned to America via Hong Kong soon after. During the same year, the municipal government of Changsha took over the administration of the Yali School and changed its name to Changsha Number Five Middle School to be integrated into the city's public school system. The School's tie with Yale-China was cut off. During the next few decades, Yali experienced political turbulence that swept much of China.

Dwight Rugh is the father of Betty Jean Rugh (now BJ Elder), who grew up in Changsha and later moved to the United States with her parents. BJ Elder published a book in 2003 titled The Oriole's Song - An American Girlhood in Wartime China (see cited sources below), describing her childhood in Changsha on the Yali campus and the various trips she made back to China in the decades following the family's forced departure.

After the Cultural Revolution

In 1980, Yali, known at the time still as Changsha Number Five middle School, returned to operations from a whole decade of chaos. With the new "reform and opening-up" policy instituted by Deng Xiaoping, more freedom to connect with the outside world was realized. Yali alumni from the first half of the 20th Century started working between Changsha and New Haven, seeking to re-establish the Yale-China connection. In 1985, the school revived its relationship with the Yale-China Association and was once again known as Yali. The next year, Yale-China bachelors, now known as English Language Instructors ("ELI", also a nickname for Yalies), arrived on campus and resumed teaching responsibilities in the English Department.

Today

Since 1986, Yali has reinvented itself again as an institution of secondary education in China. While following a standard curriculum prescribed by the Ministry of Education, it expanded its education philosophy to include extracurriculars and specialty education. The school has received provincial and national recognitions for its high quality education to young minds.

In 1992, it was recognized as one of the first Provincial Key Schools in Changsha, establishing it as a premier institution in China's public school system. Yali has reached out to institutions in many other countries and established sister school relationships internationally. In 2001, the school received a delegation from Yale University led by Yale's president, Richard Levin, in celebration of both the Centennial of Yale-China Association as well as the Tercentennial of Yale University. In 2006, Yali celebrated its own Centennial, bringing back alumni and former teachers from all parts of the world.

Since 1999,Yali School have established several branches, some are complete secondary schools and some only contain junior high school.Since 2006,the junior department of Yali stopped enrollment and finally revoked in 2009.The teachers and other staffs are moved to different Yali branches.

Yali School

Yali school, or called the "Yali Headquarters", is a day school located near the city-center (on Laodong Road between Furong Ave and Shaoshan Ave). The main teaching building is rebuilt in 2012. There are over 3000 students study there in 2012. The international department is also at Yali School.

Nanya Middle School

Nanya Middle School (Chinese: 南雅中学, literally "South Yali Middle School" ), or "Yali Boarding Middle School" formerly, is a boarding school campus located in the southern Changsha (on Xiangzhang Road), with over 7000 students through Grade 7 to 12 in 2012.It was a private school at its establishment in 2002,but converted to public since 2012.It is one of the top schools in Hunan and is considered as a second choice for students who prefer Yali.It's junior department is one of the major student sources of Yali: one-third of new students of Yali in 2013 are from Nanya.

Beiya Middle School

Beiya Middle School (Chinese: 北雅中学, literally "North Yali Middle School" ), is a public boarding school campus located in the northern Chansha, with about 3000 students within Grade 7 to 9 in 2012, which was established in 2009.

Other branch campuses

Academics

Yali graduates score among the highest in China's college entrance examinations and are accepted by the country's finest universities. Every year, some graduates from the school are accepted by North American institutions such as Princeton University, Yale University, The University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago. In recent years, graduates have also gone on to universities in other English-speaking countries such as the UK, Australia, and Canada.

For all students, Chinese, Math, English, and physical education are required. Aside from these compulsory subjects, other curricular requirements include:

All science classes have lab sessions.

Courses are also offered in computer science, graphic design, mechanics and robots, research-oriented seminars, and others.

Academic Olympiad Competition

Yali has a long history of participating in science olympiads, for which purpose the "01" class of each grade is established to give students specialized education in the natural sciences. In recent years, Yali students are noted for their achievements in all five natural science subjects.

Specialty education

Yali's strength in science education, and in particular, informatics and computer science, has produced several gold medals (9 gold medals in IOI) among its students in contests like the International Olympiad in Informatics. The school has also started a research-oriented seminar program for students to carry out group projects in the social sciences, the arts, and community engagement.

The school also started a partnership with China's Central Conservatory of Music, in which a Yali Center for the Arts was established between the two institutions located in Nanya. The purpose of the partnership is to bring high-quality music education and discover young talent.

Sports

The school has an annual Yali Cup soccer game; each class unit in the same grade organizes its own teams and compete with other teams. With soccer and basketball being the most popular sports, the men's soccer team and women's basketball team have repeatedly won provincial tournaments and are placed high in national rankings. Physical education is required for students in all grades.

Clubs

Yali students participate in extracurricular activities, including student newspaper, magazine, student union, radio station, TV station, orchestra, band, and traditional dance.

Notable alumni

Sister schools