The Garden International School , China Principal Start Date: July 2020 www.tgisgz.com Fast Facts Year established: Kindergarten in 2014, Primary School in 2016 School type: Not-for-profit, coeducational Total students: 700 Host country nationals in student body: 95% Total faculty: 180 Faculty tenure: 2-4 years Faculty holding advanced degrees: 50%+ Student/teacher ratio: 1:12

Overview

The Garden International School (TGIS) is a progressive and rapidly growing international school in Guangzhou, China. TGIS’s vision is to provide a caring and creative learning environment that fosters the character, skills, and understanding necessary for a life of ambition and purpose, and which prepares young people to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. The school aims to blend the best of Western and Eastern culture, language, and education.

At TGIS, young children are respected as competent thinkers and communicators and are offered many opportunities to engage, extend, and challenge their thinking through meaningful discovery. Children learn via quality interactions and relationships with people, places, and things. Through the school’s inquiry-based approach to learning, students discover that what they say, think, and do matters.

TGIS is seeking an outstanding educator to provide both administrative and educational vision and leadership starting July 2020. The ideal candidate will possess intercultural awareness, excellent communication skills, and the ability to develop and maintain positive, trusting relationships with various school constituency groups. Promoting The Garden International School’s mission and vision, ensuring the implementation and delivery of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP), and mentoring and inspiring a diverse teaching faculty are all key components of this position.

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 2 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com The School

By offering quality local and international classes led by highly qualified international and Chinese staff, TGIS offers a unique bilingual opportunity for all of its students. TGIS currently has a Kindergarten Program and a Primary School Program on separate sites in the south of Guangzhou, and the school has long-term plans to add a Middle and High School. The Kindergarten and Primary School are located on large, well-resourced campuses. Both schools are led by an experienced international School Director and Principal, together with a Deputy Principal in each school, and a supportive Board.

TGIS Kindergarten accepts children from ages two to six and has a current enrollment of 250 students. The program was founded in 2014 and is an IBO authorized IB World School. At TGIS Kindergarten, children discover the world as part of a caring, stimulating bilingual community of learners. Every day is filled with new ideas, exciting discoveries, and quiet wonderings on campus. The curriculum invites children to explore, discover, hypothesize, predict, problem-solve, construct, and document their growing understanding of the world in which we live.

TGIS Kindergarten’s campus includes an extensive library that is at the heart of the school. Children are taught how to find, value, and look after books and have access to over 1,500 books in both Chinese and English. The art and music rooms are bright, vibrant spaces where children learn to express their ideas and harness their creativity. The importance of physical movement and participation in outdoor activity is central to the school’s physical education program, and children have access to green and hard-court areas for sport and play.

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 3 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com TGIS Primary opened its doors two years later, in 2016, and accepts children from ages six to eleven. TGIS Primary takes the best from Chinese and international educational practices and implements these side-by-side to create an academic, rigorous yet caring, child-centered educational experience for young learners. The Primary School, with local and international streams, has a current enrollment of 450 students, and the Boarding House provides a caring environment for the 80 students who board Monday through Friday. It is currently a candidate for the IB Primary Years Programme authorization.

TGIS Primary’s campus includes an auditorium, library, multi-media rooms, art rooms, music rooms, and an indoor gym. Outdoor facilities include a running track, all weather pitches, and two playgrounds on an open green site in Haiyi Penninsula. The campus includes extensive outdoor play areas, discovery gardens, and indoor facilities.

Academics

The overall focus of the school’s inquiry-based curriculum is to encourage children to:

• Make choices and decisions • Use materials in flexible and imaginative ways • Initiate inquiry and ask questions • Work collaboratively with others • Sustain their interests and extend their knowledge • Develop understanding of themselves and the world around them

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 4 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com At TGIS Kindergarten, children discover the world as part of a caring, stimulating bilingual community of learners. Young children are respected as competent thinkers and communicators and are offered many opportunities to engage, extend, and challenge their thinking through meaningful discovery. Beginning in Pre-Nursery, teachers encourage children to explore their environment and express themselves in English and Chinese through indoor and outdoor play, stories, songs, and self-chosen activities. Children also participate in library, art, music, and physical education classes taught by specialist teachers. In Nursery classrooms, learning is organized around interest areas or learning centers. Reading, writing, and math skills are reinforced through communication, exploration, and play. Standalone English phonics and math programs are introduced in Pre-Kindergarten and reinforced in Kindergarten, where students are prepared for entry into local or international primary schools. Assessments of a child’s development and acquisition of skills are conducted on a regular basis by teachers. Above all, TGIS Kindergarten strives to shape happy, confident, and active life- long learners.

TGIS Primary is the first foreign language primary school in southern China featuring dual mother tongues and dual cultures. The Primary School is authorized by the Ministry of Education in China and offers three different educational streams, with an increasing level of bilingualism incorporated in each stream. Students are admitted to a specific stream following the admission interview and based on the school’s recommendation for individual students. All students are provided with learning opportunities in English and Chinese, and the school employs experienced and caring staff that support this approach. The Primary School recognizes that the students’ national identity and culture is an essential part of the curriculum, yet equally the school aims to get them actively involved in their own learning, collaborating with their peers, and developing skills that will allow them to flourish in an ever-changing international society.

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 5 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com TGIS Primary is committed to educating the whole child, which is evident through participation in visual and performing arts and physical education classes. The arts program challenges students to express their creativity and explore their talents. Students experience different art mediums such as drawing, ceramics, cloth art, engraving, wood art, and sculpture in visual arts classes. Vocal music, dance, and drama courses build students’ fundamental knowledge and develop self-confidence and performance skills. Physical education is fundamental to a child’s learning and development, and classes ensure that students have the confidence to excel in a broad range of sports and physical activities. This helps students become competent individuals who enjoy being active and demonstrate values such as fairness, respect, and cooperation.

Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou (formerly Canton) is the capital and most populous city of the province of in southern China. Located on the about 75 miles (120 km) northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a sprawling port city and transportation hub with a history of over 2,200 years. Administratively, the city holds sub-provincial status and is one of China’s nine National Central Cities. At the end of 2018, the population of the city’s expansive administrative area was estimated at nearly 15 million.

A 2018 report by the United Nations and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences named Guangzhou as China’s most liveable city. Guangzhou is also ranked as an Alpha global city because of its place in the global economic network. There is a rapidly increasing number of foreign temporary residents and immigrants from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa, which has led to it being dubbed the “Capital of the Third World.” Around half of the population speaks or Mandarin as their native tongue. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 6 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com Guangzhou has a distinct character that makes it different to rivals Beijing and Shanghai. It remains the heart of Cantonese culture, a title it shares with Hong Kong, and the culture, language, and food are all distinct. Guangzhou’s isolation from the rest of ‘typical China’ by mountainous topography and early exposure to the outside world has resulted in its unique way of living, liberal ideas, distinctive cuisine, and tremendous wealth. It is no surprise that Guangzhou is a cradle of many reforms and revolutions that changed the fate of China forever.

The city features avant-garde architecture such as Zaha Hadid’s (known as the “double pebble”), the carved box-shaped Guangdong Museum, and the iconic Canton TV Tower skyscraper that resembles a thin hourglass. The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, a temple complex from 1894, also houses the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum.

Opportunities and Challenges

We see this as a wonderful opportunity for an up-and-coming primary school leader at a school that is clearly on the ascent and located in a highly desirable part of China.

Opportunities for the next Principal include:

• Playing a key leadership role in the shaping of a young, well-resourced IB school as it continues to grow and develop. • Leading and continuing to strengthen a program that balances academic rigor as well as child- centered experiences for young learners. • Engaging with highly qualified and devoted international and Chinese faculty.

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 7 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com • Working with the Board to develop a coherent strategic vision for the future. • Living and working in the historically and culturally significant city of Guangzhou, the capital of the richest province in China.

Challenges for the next Principal include:

• Creating a coherent organizational structure that will allow for the most efficient operation. • Developing a strong and well-functioning faculty and leadership team. • Continuing to develop an overall educational program that meets the needs of the whole child. • Working with the Board to move toward a Pre-K-12 program.

Desired Qualities and Qualifications

Desirable qualities for the Principal include, but are not limited to:

• A learning leader, with a strong background in curriculum and literacy, including American educational programs and the PYP. • Understands inquiry-based learning. • Excited by the opportunity to play a leadership role in a dynamic and rapidly growing school. • Demonstrated personal and professional integrity and a commitment to ethical behavior and leadership. Able to set and enforce standards. • Native English speaker. • International experience preferred but not required. • “A passion for China.”

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 8 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com To Apply

Interested candidates should submit the following materials as separate PDF attachments in one email to either consultant:

• Cover letter expressing interest in this leadership position; • Current resume; • Statement of educational leadership, and/or a writing sample of your choice (e.g., article, speech, or convocation) related to the topic(s) of leadership or education; • A list of five professional references with name, phone number, and email address of each (references will be contacted only with the candidate’s permission) to:

John Chandler Senior Search Consultant [email protected]

Jenny Fry Search Associate [email protected]

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 9 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com