One thing I had not considered as being a big thing to me, prior to coming abroad, is having great health-care cover during my work period. I had health insurance when I worked in the United States. It was an okay insurance policy, but not one that I needed to use very frequently. We had to pay a lot into that, as well. But now, after I’ve been ill in the past few weeks, I fully understand how important good health insurance is to have. KL also has coordinators, and people placed in each campus site, who help foreign teachers with things like navigating hospitals. This structure they have put in place is one of the most helpful things, because, as a foreigner, I wouldn’t be able to navigate these hospitals. This is not tangible, you cannot put your hand on it, but it’s very important to have.

Barstow prides itself on being a leader and innovator in education and as a school that values global connections, it is imperative that our students both in American and other countries have the opportunity to learn from each other. The global campus model provides invaluable opportunities for growth, reflection, understanding, collaboration, and cooperation. KL has proven to be a wonderful partner who has expertise in logistics and operations in China, allowing Barstow to concentrate on providing the academic program.

KL offers workshops from time to time. I learned new things from those workshops. And this summer, I will be attending an AP seminar, which is sponsored by KL as a preparation for AP class next semester. This professional development is something I am really grateful as a member of KL family. They are concerned about the professional growth of teachers.

KL has offered great opportunities to keep expanding my knowledge base and grow both personally and professionally. Two of the greatest things are the all staff summits, in which the staff from all campuses are joined together to learn and share resources. As an Academic Dean I also receive training and support through weekly Dean’s meetings.  I have found these meetings to be very beneficial to my professional development.

At the heart of every decision, be it big or small, I always do my very best to put students first and reflect on the impact on our students. It is easy to get caught up in the daily events and forget that even the smallest thing can have a positive or negative influence over how students are able to learn. This needs to be the reason behind every compromise, and every bit of being willing to be flexible while facing the challenges that arise from combining two very different cultural approaches to running schools.

In the 21^st Century, having global campuses in China is a wise move. But there is no way an American school can successfully cobble together a dual-diploma program without expert input from a company such as KL which has the English and Chinese-speaking staff on the ground throughout China who are experienced with both systems and can help set up and monitor the programs. KL allows American schools to safely and affordably expand into the realm of international education, without any UBIT issues, and do what they do best:  deliver a mission-based, high quality, college-preparatory education to eager students.