Vicky Chao was an educator in Taiwan before immigrating to the United States, so it’s no surprise that she considered choosing a school for her son, Yowei, as an extremely important decision. When Yowei was very young, she began researching schools to find one that would be the best fit for him. “It takes a long time to do your due diligence,” she says. “I wanted a school where he would be challenged in a positive, encouraging environment.”
“Our child’s core values must come from us,” adds her husband, Wei Guo. “But his peers and school will also influence him, so we wanted a school that would share our values, principles, and vision. We took this decision seriously.”
After years of considering their options, Vicky and Wei decided to enroll Yowei in Pre-Kindergarten at Colorado Academy in 2019. “It’s not very often that your impression of something gets better and more positive with each experience,” Wei says. “Every time we visited CA, we liked it more and more.”
The whole child
Vicky brought Yowei to multiple “Explore CA” events, including classes in music, PE, technology, and visits to the library. “The books in the library talk about being kind,” says Vicky. “The teachers are engaged and patient, the classrooms are filled with natural light, and the children in the computer lab are coding! CA is amazing and will open Yowei’s eyes at a young age.”
Wei was impressed by CA’s emphasis on the “whole child”—a focus not just on the brain but also on the heart of a child.
“We want to expose him to as much as possible—sports, arts, academics—so he can find his passion in life,” Wei says. “I don’t want to limit his focus or force him to specialize, because what if I make a wrong choice for him?”
A global citizen
Vicky and Wei have family overseas and hope their son will grow up to be a “global citizen.” They attended “Taste of CA,” an event which celebrates diversity within the school community and loved that CA showcases many different cultures—especially international food. “The world is not just limited to cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, and fried rice.” says Vicky. “CA shares the value of diversity with us.”
“It’s important to us that our son learns tolerance and acceptance,” says Wei. “At CA, he will meet people from different cultural backgrounds, and he will understand that all cultures have good people.”
Vicky and Wei took their school research one step further and met CA alumni, teachers, parents of current students, and current students. Consistently, they were impressed by the people they got to know, finding them to be respectful, self-possessed, confident without being arrogant, and polite. They are thrilled that Yowei is now at CA, and they have joined the CA parent community. But they have not lost sight of their first and foremost goal. “We just want our child to be happy, healthy, kind—an all-around good person,” Wei says. “Those are our guiding values, and we see CA as a strategic partner in helping us raise our child.”