The Chinese School of San Diego(CSSD) has a history dating back to over 100 years. It is the oldest Chinese school in San Diego, and it offers classes in two Chinese dialects, Cantonese and Mandarin courses, for students to enroll in. Enrollment grade levels are the same for both dialects, starting from preschool, must be at least 4 years old, to adult.

Chinese School of San Diego aims to provide a well rounded program of studies of the Chinese language and its cultures. Throughout the program, emphasis is placed upon the development of fluency in Chinese listening, speaking, reading, writing,and translation. These are developed with a broad, activity based approach. Students at CSSD develop a keen understanding of and appreciation for China, its language, history, culture, festivals and traditions.

Students in CSSD are predominantly native English speakers - 90% speak English only. Most students are born in the US without any Chinese cultural background. The Chinese School of San Diego is unique from other San Diego Chinese Schools in that we also teach about Chinese culture.

Mission Statement:

We foster our students’ lifelong love of learning. We encourage the growth of the whole person and we work with our students to help them grow into ethical, compassionate, and responsible members of the local and global community. We teach them respect for the view of others’ beliefs and cultures, and the value of community involvement.

"Live, Learn & Experience Chinese "

Chinese School has divided classes by age and proficiency. We offer classes in Children (4-7), Youth (7-11), Teens(12-18), and Adults (18 and above). We also divide classes by Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

We offer language courses in both Mandarin and Cantonese. Mandarin, the official dialect of China is used by 800 million Chinese daily in Taiwan and all of China and other parts of the world. Cantonese, the principal dialect used by 54 million people in southern China, Hong Kong, Macau, South East Asia, Canada, USA and South America. Both languages are taught in traditional Chinese writing in CSSD.

In addition to the courses, we also offer an annual summer trip to China. This trip serves to introduce students to China, and they also get to practice Chinese. In the past, we arranged school trips to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. This trip is open to all students and their families.

Our Pen Pal program offer students an opportunity to interact and learn from a Chinese student overseas. Our students learn about the culture, language, history, and life of a fellow teenager living abroad.

Teachers are recruited from the general public and come from many different occupations, careers, and diverse background. They share an expressed desire and dedication to teach the Chinese language. All of our teachers hold at a minimum a college level degree and/or college education equivalent, ranging from Education, Mathematics, Civil Engineering, Accounting and/or other various degrees.

Every teacher is hired for their ability to speak Cantonese or Mandarin in their native tongue and for their teaching experience. The teacher to student class ratio is approximately 7 students to 1 teacher.

Chinese School teachers prepare lessons on Chinese customs, history, art, holidays and culture. They also incorporate the assembly materials into their own lessons. All Chinese School teachers are native born speakers of the Cantonese or Mandarin Language. Students learn the correct, precise, natural pronunciation and intonation of the standard version of the dialect. This provides students with a solid foundation of the language. Success rate depends on how much motivation one has, how fast one learns, how much time one devotes to study.

CSSD operates within the normal public school year, from September to June. Classes are not conducted during the summer. Classes are held on Saturdays from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon.

Class Schedule

Tuition is required to pay in full when students register for class. No refunds if student decides to drop out of the class half way. We encourage students to attend class all time.

Regular School Tuition: $550 for entire school year

High School Credit Program: $625 for entire school year more info on the program

Textbooks are not included in the tuition. For first time students, school uniforms(red polo shirts and red jacket with school logo) will be given to students as a gift from Chinese School.