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Brittany Taylor / Jim Croswell

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Dallas-Based Charter School Opens Their First School in China

ILTexas celebrates the opening of its first high school in Guangzhou

DALLAS – International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas), a Dallas-based charter celebrated the grand opening of its newest school on Monday, Sept. 5 in Guangzhou, China at Southern China Normal University. This is the school’s first international school to open in China, which is recognized and supported by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulates’ in Guangzhou. Like the students at their Dallas and Houston campuses, Guangzhou students will be required to master the English, Spanish and Mandarin languages, complete an annual service learning project that supports the school’s motto, “Other’s Before Self,” and have the opportunity to study abroad.

“We are excited about the opening of our newest school in the second largest economy in the world,” said ILTexas Superintendent Eddie Conger. “To open our first school in China, we are not only supporting the government’s foreign language initiative in youth, but the value and importance in early exposure for cultural immersion and international relations.”

Using the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills curriculum (TEKS), the students will be taught the same college-preparatory curriculum as their peers in Texas. Currently, ILTexas has a four-year exchange program that hosts Chinese students at their Garland High School campus. The students reside in a dormitory facility on the campus and study alongside their American peers. By opening a Texas school in China, ILTexas has created an opportunity for American and Chinese students to travel in respective countries and study for six weeks to a year without falling behind or deviating from the required Texas curriculum.

“This is a special time for our school as we expand our footprint increasing the accessibility to a quality education domestically and internationally,” adds Conger. “We welcome the students from China and look forward to watching our students further their education beyond ILTexas.”

This year, ILTexas hosts 94 international teachers from China and Spain, making it the second largest Chinese curriculum in the nation and the largest in Texas**.

**According to the National Chinese Language Conference

About International Leadership of Texas

At International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas) our mission is to prepare students for exceptional leadership roles in the international community by emphasizing servant leadership, mastering the English, Spanish and Chinese languages, and strengthening the body, mind and character. ILTexas teaches students from a global perspective where they have an opportunity to become trilingual, graduate with an associate’s degree and study abroad. Founded in 2013 by retired Marine Corps Infantry Officer and Dallas Independent School District high school principal Eddie Conger, ILTexas serves more than 10,000 students with 12 locations spanning across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and Houston. For more information, visit iltexas.org.