During the month of October, Principal Tom Durkin spent two weeks in Shanghai, China in an effort to recruit more international students to the school. JC currently has 52 international students representing a total of 13 countries, and about 56% of them are from Asian countries like China, Korea, and Taiwan.

Mr. Durkin left on October 26 for about 26 hours of air travel to China. After settling in at a hotel, Mr. Durkin set out to begin the interview process alongside representatives from at least 10 other schools from around the United States.

“The interview is really important because it helps us identify students whose English is fluent. They need to be able to carry out a conversation,” said Mr. Durkin.    Scores from exams like TOEFL and ISEP, which test a student’s English in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, are not always the determining factor when deciding whether a student will thrive in the international program at JC.

“There were some students that I met who had TOEFL scores in the high 70s and low 80s who just couldn’t carry on a conversation with me,” said Mr. Durkin.

While one can easily study for an examination, the interview is harder to prepare for and is a better gauge for the true ability of a student.

The interview process is fairly open to each representative to tailor it to the school.

“I will sometimes go with a passage that they have to read. I try to take a passage from something they’re going to read here, so for example, I took a passage from Catcher in the Rye,” said Mr. Durkin.

The students are then timed on their reading and asked multiple questions to test reading comprehension on the spot.

The interview allows JC administrators to meet the students and ask them personal questions to decide not only if they could handle studying abroad, but if they would succeed and thrive in doing so.

“We want them to feel comfortable coming here, and we don’t want to put them in a position to fail or struggle,” remarked Mr. Durkin.

Out of the 36 students he interviewed, Mr. Durkin offered acceptance to 27 of them. The number of students expected to accept the offer is much lower due to the number of schools represented at the agency.

This is not Mr. Durkin’s first visit to China. Back in 2010, he taught English as a Second Language at a high school level alongside other teachers from America to be immersed in the culture. Mr. Durkin noted that the upper-education is all test-driven.

“There are not a whole lot of projects, and there’s still the concept of the ‘sage on the stage’ where the children listen to a teacher lecture and memorize the information,” he said.

These students who go through with the interview process are looking for a different experience for their high school education, which can lead to an elevated American College experience.

Mr. Durkin did not only spend his time talking to potential Patriots. He had to present the school to agencies like New Oriental in order to make the connection and reach the families who are interested in sending their child to an American high school. Whether he was presenting to children, parents, or agencies, each day of his trip had a full agenda.

With the addition of international students, the school is further diversified which can help widen the world view of its students.

“I mean you can be sitting in class with a student from the Congo behind you, with a student from China to your right, with a student from Turkey in front of you, and with a student from Italy to your left. Where else are you going to find that?” said Mr. Durkin.