YOU CAN REGISTER as a student at Rockville Chinese School !  Spring semester classes begin on January 24, 2010.

Please print out & fill in a registration form, below, and then mail the form & your check to:  Rockville Chinese School, 10278 Arizona Circle, Bethesda, MD 20817.

To see a copy of the RCS school calendar, please go to the menu on the left, then click on "Calendar & Events."

To register for Cultural Arts School classes, choose "Cultural Arts School" from the left-hand menu.  You will also be able to view a list of the classes offered.

The class placement of a new student will be determined by the office.  This is based on the several factors:  Age, previous Mandarin learning experience, and the Mandarin-speaking environment in the student's home & school.

The minimum age for preschool classes is 4 years old at the time of registration.

A five year old student with no previous Mandarin schooling will start in Class P2. 

Older students who have no previous Mandarin schooling will start in a lower class, depending upon the student's comfort level and language skill.

RCS has two language tracks for students --

"A" track:  This is for students who speak Mandarin at home.  The course work is more demanding & proceeds at a faster pace.  The teachers instruct the class primarily in Mandarin.  Zhuyin phonetic notation is used to indicate pronunciation.  Pinyin phonetic pronunciation is introduced in middle school classes.

"B" track:  This is for students from non-Mandarin-speaking families.  Even though the parents may not speak Mandarin, they are expected to help their children review flash cards, & to see that their children do their homework & listen to class CDs.  Instruction is done in English & Mandarin.  Pinyin phonetic notation is the primary notation used to indicate pronunciation.

Teaching Assistants:  All preschool classes, & all other classes that have more than 12 students will have a teaching assistant.

Expectations:  All students are expected to follow their teachers’ instructions, to respect others, and to do homework.

All parents are expected to work with the teacher to encourage and to help their student to learn in any way that he or she can.

All teachers are expected to conduct their classes in a professional way, and to work with parents to help students in learning.

In our Language Arts Classes, RCS strives to balance an academic enriched program with elements of cultural learning fun. 

-         The textbooks are in traditional Chinese characters.  Simplified Chinese characters are introduced in middle school classes.

-         There is homework every week.  This may include listening to a CD, which is especially important to students from non-Mandarin-speaking families.

-         All students, 1^st grade and up, are required to participate in the Speech Competition in the fall, and in the Language Competition (Character / Phrases Recognition) in the spring.  These activities are designed to promote students’ presentation skills and to reinforce their Mandarin study.

-         There are 3-4 hours of cultural classes each semester to introduce students to Chinese culture and arts.  These may include calligraphy, opera, dragon dance, drum, etc., depending on student’s ages and the availability of instructors.

-         Quizzes, tests, midterms, finals, and/or evaluations will be given by teachers throughout the year.

-         All classes will prepare a program to perform in our in-school Chinese New Year celebration.  Some classes may also participate in our Mother’s Day performance.

-         At the end of the school year, awards in three categories will be presented:

o       Perfect Attendance: Students who have a perfect attendance record throughout the whole year, without being late or leaving school early more than twice.

o       Academic Advancement: Students who demonstrate significant improvement in academic performance or in class/study behaviors.

o       Academic Excellence: Students whose academic record ranks in the top third of the class.

-         Please refer to our school calendar for more information, such as dates of midterms & finals; or dates of competitions & special presentation days.

Please click below to see a list of language classes, textbooks, & fees.