Famous Schools and Teachers, Revitalizing the Nation through Science and Education (Part 2)
Section 2: Basic Education, Elite Middle Schools — One of Hunan's First Batch of Model Senior High Schools: The High School Attached to Hunan Normal University. Founded in 1905, it sits by the scenic Xiang River and at the foot of the culturally rich Yuelu Mountain in Changsha, with a beautiful campus and well-planned layout.
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section II
Basic Education · Famous and Excellent Middle Schools
Hunan's First Batch of Demonstrative Regular Senior High Schools—The High School Affiliated to Hunan Normal University
Hunan Normal University Affiliated High School was founded in 1905, located on the scenic banks of the Xiang River in Changsha, Hunan, at the foot of the culturally rich Yuelu Mountain. The campus has a beautiful environment, coordinated layout, and reasonable functional zoning. It is one of the first batch of demonstration ordinary senior high schools in Hunan Province, a century-old prestigious school with profound cultural heritage and outstanding educational achievements. For more than a century, the school has cultivated a large number of revolutionary martyrs and talents in science and technology, economics, and culture. Among its outstanding representatives are Li Lisan, a proletarian revolutionary and outstanding leader of the Chinese workers' movement; Zhu Rongji, former Premier of the State Council; art master Ouyang Yuqian; and academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Sciences such as Li Ao, Li Jieshou, Li Leishi, Zhang Lüqian, Zhu Zhiti, He Jishan, and Zhu Zuoyan. The school's education and teaching quality is first-class, with 18 provincial-level or higher awards for teaching reform and research achievements. Students' college entrance examination results have consistently ranked among the top in Hunan Province. Students have achieved outstanding results in sports, arts competitions, and youth science and technology innovation activities. In international middle school subject Olympiads, the school's total number of gold medals ranks firmly first in the country. The school is a national advanced collective in the education system. Today's Hunan Normal University Affiliated High School has become a brand school that is first-class domestically and has considerable international influence.
Hunan's Earliest Public Middle School — Changsha No. 1 Middle School
Changsha No. 1 Middle School of Hunan Province was founded in 1912, originally named Hunan Provincial No. 1 Middle School. It is the earliest public middle school in Hunan Province, known for its gathering of renowned teachers, simple and honest school spirit, and the emergence of numerous talents. Mao Zedong, Zhu Rongji, Zhou Gucheng, Zhou Libo, Yang Xiaokai, Tan Dun, and other statesmen, thinkers, historians, writers, economists, and musicians of international renown, as well as 17 academicians of the "Two Academies," all studied here successively. The school is currently a provincial demonstration ordinary senior high school directly under the Hunan Provincial Department of Education. The school has 83 teaching classes with over 5,043 students. The school has a high-quality teaching staff, with 27 special-grade teachers, over 110 senior teachers, and 150 teachers who have obtained master's degrees or completed postgraduate course certificates. Every year, the school hires about 10 foreign teachers from countries such as the UK and the US to teach oral English and other subjects. The school not only has subject laboratories, an observatory, a biological specimen room, a multimedia language lab, a modern educational technology center, and a library with over 160,000 volumes that are leading in the province and even the country, but also has an Ethernet-switched campus computer network integrating auxiliary teaching, office automation, library management, and video-on-demand functions, achieving the integration of the school's three networks (broadcast network, computer network, and communication network), creating favorable conditions for educational and teaching work. In the past 10 years, more than 160 students have won awards in national subject competitions, and in international middle school Olympiads in 5 subjects, the school has won a total of 32 medals, ranking first in the country in total medals. Every year, the passing rate of the junior high school graduation examination reaches 100%, and the admission rate to first-class universities in the college entrance examination is above 85%, with about 20 students entering Tsinghua and Peking University each year. Every year, more than 30 outstanding graduates are recommended for admission to first-class universities, ranking first in the province in the number of recommended students. Graduates of No. 1 Middle School from all previous years are renowned among domestic universities for their good overall quality and strong development potential.
Hunan's Century-Old Prestigious School — Changsha Changjun Middle School
Changsha Changjun Middle School is a demonstration ordinary senior high school in Hunan Province. It was founded in 1904 by Changsha Prefect Yan Zhongji, initially called "Changsha Prefecture Middle School," the only prefecture-run middle school at the time. In 1912, after the prefecture system was abolished, Hunan Changjun Public School was established on the basis of Changsha Prefecture Middle School. Thereafter, the school was successively renamed Hunan First United County Middle School, Changjun Public School, Hunan Changjun United Middle School, Changsha No. 1 Middle School (1951), and Changsha No. 2 Middle School. In 1984, the school name Changjun Middle School was restored. For over a century, Changjun Middle School has molded numerous outstanding individuals with its school motto of "Simplicity and Fortitude," maintained enduring teaching quality, and produced continuous achievements in quality education. It has delivered over 78,000 qualified graduates to society and produced a large number of scholars and famous figures, including proletarian revolutionaries, academicians, aestheticians, musicians, and singers. Since 1995, the school's various educational and teaching evaluation indicators have led Hunan for consecutive years. At the intersection of inheriting the essence of a century of history and culture and exploring realistic potential, Changjun Middle School adheres to the educational philosophy of "people-oriented, pursuing excellence," establishes the development approach of "harmonious development, connotative development, characteristic development, and international development," practices the educational thought of "laying the foundation for students' lifelong development" and "becoming a person before becoming a talent," comprehensively promotes quality education, and has developed its own characteristics and formed a brand.
First Batch "National Modern Educational Technology Experimental School" — Changsha Yali Middle School
Changsha Yali Middle School is a century-old prestigious school with a long history, first-class quality, distinctive characteristics, and international influence. On November 16, 1906, the Yale Association, a civil organization of Yale University in the United States, founded "Yali College" at Xipailou in Changsha. Over a hundred years, Yali Middle School successively went through stages including Changsha Private Yali Middle School, Hunan Private Yali Middle School, Jiefang Middle School, and Changsha No. 5 Middle School. The school name changed several times, and in August 1985, with the approval of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, the name "Changsha Yali Middle School" was restored. Yali Middle School's outstanding students can be described as numerous as stars, having cultivated over 80,000 talents in a hundred years. The school is one of the first eight key middle schools designated in Hunan Province, one of the five schools that received comprehensive commendation and awards in the provincial key middle school supervision and evaluation, a national civilized unit, one of the first batch of "National Modern Educational Technology Experimental Schools," one of the first batch of "National Traditional Sports Project Schools," one of the first batch of "National School Culture Construction Demonstration Schools," one of the first batch of "National Science Popularization Innovation Demonstration Bases," a "National Advanced Unit in Spiritual Civilization Construction," a "National Advanced Unit in Teacher Ethics Construction," a "National Demonstration School for School Development through Research in Primary and Secondary Schools," a "National Outstanding School in Psychological Education Experiments," a "Beijing 2008 Olympic Education Demonstration School," one of the first batch of "Advanced Units in Running Schools According to Law in Hunan Province," and a "Hunan Provincial Civilized Unit" for 14 consecutive years since 1993.
Hunan's Earliest Modern New-Style Education School — Changsha Mingde Middle School
Changsha Mingde Middle School is located in the Ecological New City of Tianxin District, Changsha. It was founded in 1903 (the 29th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty), initially named Mingde School, and is the earliest modern new-style education school in Hunan Province. The founder, Mr. Hu Yuantan (courtesy name Zijing, 1872-1940), was a famous modern Chinese educator and social activist. After the founding of New China, Mingde Middle School has always been a key middle school in Hunan Province and is now one of the first batch of demonstration senior high schools in Hunan Province. Mingde Middle School's 105-year history of running a school can be described as incomparably glorious, serving as a banner of China's middle school education. The school takes the four characters "Fortitude, Hardship, Truth, and Sincerity" as its school motto, advocates the spirit of "grinding blood to educate people," and has so far cultivated nearly 80,000 high-quality students of various types. Mingde Middle School's strong teaching staff has effectively promoted the construction of the school's characteristic disciplines. Creating characteristic disciplines with cultural education, renowned teacher communities, curriculum development, inspiring wisdom, and teaching quality as the main keywords is an important educational philosophy of Mingde Middle School. The construction of a new curriculum system, cultural management model, and characteristic moral education have gradually become the three major highlights of Mingde Middle School. The school has produced many renowned teachers, rich research achievements, and excellent and stable teaching quality, forming advantageous subjects with a certain demonstrative influence in the province. Hence the reputation of "Nankai in the North, Mingde in the South."
Changsha's Largest and Best-Quality Public Boarding Middle School — Changsha Zhounan Middle School
Located in the north of the Star City and on the banks of the Xiang River, this century-old prestigious school — Changsha Zhounan Middle School — was founded in 1905 by the famous revolutionary educator Zhu Jianfan, who sacrificed his family fortune to establish it. It is one of the first batch of provincial key middle schools in Hunan Province and is currently a provincial demonstration senior high school with first-tier admissions. It is Changsha's largest and best-quality public boarding middle school. The school's first-class conditions, first-class teaching staff, and first-class management level have created first-class educational quality and won a good social reputation. It is a provincial advanced unit in moral education and an excellent place for students to pursue their studies and realize their ideals. A large number of outstanding talents, including Yang Kaihui, Xiang Jingyu, Cai Chang, Ding Ling, Liao Jingwen, and many other social elites, have studied here, and the school's reputation is renowned at home and abroad. The school has well-equipped teaching buildings, laboratory buildings, a library, a gymnasium, and an art gallery, with conditions superior to universities. Sports, fine arts, music, and other categories are major contributors to college entrance examination admissions in Hunan Province, and it is also a major contributor to pilot admissions in Hunan Province. This is a modern school with a domestic first-class standard.
National Foreign Language Experimental School — Changsha Foreign Language School
Changsha Foreign Language School is currently the first state-owned public school in Hunan Province and the only full-time complete middle school in Changsha with foreign languages as its specialty, implementing comprehensive quality education. It is also a national-level foreign language experimental school, a provincial-level modern educational technology experimental school, and a Changsha demonstration ordinary senior high school. The school's teaching staff is trending toward younger age and higher education levels. With characteristic teaching in three languages — English, Japanese, and French — as the leader and comprehensive emphasis on quality education as its diversified school-running feature, the school's nine-subject average scores in the high school entrance examination have ranked among the top in Changsha for six consecutive years, and the one-time college entrance examination undergraduate admission rate has ranked among the top of provincial demonstration middle schools for three consecutive years. Junior high school graduates taking the UK "Pitman" Level 2 examination have a pass rate of 99% and an excellence rate of 83%. Students participating in various foreign language competitions have won 6 national-level awards, 18 provincial-level awards, and 126 municipal-level awards. In 2004 and 2005, 52 and 153 students respectively obtained National Public English Test System (PETS) Level 2 or Level 3 certificates, with pass rates ranking among the top of foreign language schools nationwide. The school has a scientific layout and beautiful environment, with teaching and living facilities fully equipped according to municipal first-level school standards. Campus construction fully embodies the "people-oriented" concept, with buildings in typical European style, highlighting the foreign language characteristics. In 2002, the school was awarded the title of "National Foreign Language Experimental School" by the Basic Education Experimental Center of the Ministry of Education.
A Banner of Hunan's Private Education — Changsha Peicui Experimental Middle School
Changsha Peicui Middle School is located at Shanglijiapo, Tianxin District, Changsha. It was founded in 1989 and is the earliest private complete middle school established in Changsha since the reform and opening up, enjoying great prestige in the educational circle. It has been successively rated as an "Outstanding School in Social Forces Running Education in Hunan Province" and an "Outstanding Private School in Honest and Law-Abiding School Running in Changsha." The school has a strong teaching staff and has always adhered to the school-running spirit of "striving and dedicating, grinding blood to educate people." It has cultivated over 4,000 qualified high school graduates for the country, of whom 80% entered various higher education institutions at all levels. In recent years, its total high school entrance examination scores have ranked among the top of all types of middle schools in Changsha. The school's Party branch has successively admitted 28 outstanding students to join the Party honorably and has been rated as an advanced grassroots Party organization in the Changsha education system multiple times. In October 2003, in the book "A Collection of China's Outstanding Private Institutions" compiled by the News and Information Center of People's Daily, only 6 out of nearly 5,000 private institutions in Hunan were included, and Peicui Middle School topped the list. Mr. Wang Zhikun, Chairman and Principal, has been rated many times as an outstanding educator at the provincial and municipal levels, one of the "Top Ten" private school founders in Hunan Province, an outstanding private education worker with outstanding contributions in Hunan Province, and one of the "Top Ten Charming Teachers Touching the Star City" in Changsha. On the occasion of Peicui's 10th anniversary celebration, Peicui Middle School was praised by provincial and municipal education administrative departments and news media as "a banner of private schools" and "a pearl of basic education."
Hunan's First School to Win a Gold Medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad — Xiangyin No. 1 Middle School
In July 1987, the 28th International Mathematical Olympiad for middle school students was held in Havana, Cuba. This world Olympiad had the largest number of participating countries and participants in history. With strong competitors everywhere, the selected middle school students from famous schools of various countries were all extraordinary, yet Liu Xiong, a student from Xiangyin No. 1 Middle School, won the gold medal in this Olympiad and achieved a perfect score. This was the first time a Hunan middle school student participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad with a team organized uniformly by the state, and it was also Hunan's first Olympiad gold medal.
Hunan's First Full-Time Private Complete Middle School — Hengyang Xiangnan Experimental Middle School
Hengyang Xiangnan Experimental Middle School was solely founded by Mr. Xu Guangcheng in May 1993. It is the first full-time private complete middle school in Hunan Province, awarded the plaque of "China's Well-Known Private Institution" by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and recommended by the Provincial Department of Education in June 2003 as one of the first batch of "National Advanced Private Middle Schools." It currently has a campus area of over 60 mu and a building area of over 40,000 square meters, with 2,600 students. The school is magnificent in scale, with fully functional teaching buildings and science and technology buildings, and currently has the best hotel-style student apartments in Changning City. It is a "Hunan Provincial Garden-Style Unit" and a "Hunan Provincial Modern Educational Technology Experimental School."
China's First Hope Middle School — Hunan Yongshun County Shanghai Bell National Hope Middle School
Hunan Yongshun County Shanghai Bell National Hope Middle School was founded with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 6, 1995, in Wangcun Town, Yongshun County. It is China's first Hope Middle School. Yongshun Shanghai Bell National Hope Middle School is a complete rural middle school. Its predecessor was Yongshun County No. 2 Middle School, and it was later built with donations from Shanghai Bell Company, hence renamed Yongshun County Shanghai Bell National Hope Middle School. It was later renamed Yongshun County National Middle School by the Education Bureau.