| The Contra Costa Chinese School, located at the Diablo
Community College in the East Bay (321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill 94598,)
was established in 1976 in Walnut Creek by a small group of Chinese families
who wanted to provide Chinese language instruction to their American-born
children. With the devotion and contributions of numerous volunteers over
the past 30 years, CCCS has expanded into a respected and well-established
Chinese language school for students in grades K-12. The School also provides
a complete pre-college Chinese language program, which is equivalent to
many college level curriculums. With over 350 students, 30 teachers, and
250 families attending every Saturday, the School is among the largest and
oldest Chinese schools in Northern California.
The School is a non-profit, non-political, and non-religious volunteer-operated
educational organization. The mission of the School is to provide learning
opportunities to all students who are interested in the Chinese language
and culture, regardless of race, age, religion, or country of origin.
The School is organized and operated by a Board of Directors and other
volunteer officers, including the School Principal and President of the
Parents Association.
The School holds classes every Saturday afternoon. On a typical school
day, students attend two hours of language instruction and one hour of a
cultural Enrichment Program (EP) course. The EP program introduces students
to a wide range of skills and Chinese arts, including: Chinese calligraphy,
Chinese painting, western painting, Chinese knots, abacus and mental math,
Chinese dancing, Chinese chess, Chinese martial arts/ kung fu, Chinese yo-yo,
Applied Chinese conversation, Chinese poetry, homework tutoring, and basketball,
etc.
For the lower grades (K- 4th grades), the School offers dual track teaching
in phonetic and ping-yin teaching, as well as traditional and simplified
Chinese texts. For the upper grades (8th grade and above), the classes use
Integrated Chinese textbooks, which are the same texts used in U.C. Berkeley
Chinese language courses. The high school accreditation program allows high
school students to secure their foreign language credits in numerous local
school districts.
New programs added in 2005-06 include: adult Chinese conversation courses,
pre-kindergarten courses, Chinese–for-fun classes, and Chinese SAT-II classes.
The School also provides many other events and activities, such as: Spring
festival and Chinese New Year celebration, teacher & volunteer appreciation
lunches, floral design classes, Tai- Chi classes, ball-room dancing classes,
a high school graduation ceremony, annual fundraising, quarterly Town-Hall
Meetings, and weekly snack/bake sales, etc. Other events include topical
seminars, family BBQ picnics, and other cultural activities that are very
popular with parents and adults. For a brochure copy of our school, click
here to download.
We welcome all friends and supporters of CCCS and students’ parents to
join us at Chinese School on Saturdays from 1:00 to 400 PM. It’s a great
place to meet great people, learn a new language, and contribute to the
community!
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