Former math student opens first Vietnamese private school in the US

Five years later, Van Houston Academy, the school headed by Vietnamese-American teacher Van Tan Hoang Vy, has more than 200 students. Many of them have been accepted into top universities around the world . Van Tan Hoang Vy realized this since he was a Math teacher at Sam Houston High School in the suburbs of Texas, USA. That year, the 23-year-old Vietnamese teacher had just graduated from the prestigious Imperial College London (UK), and was assigned for the first time to teach Math at the school "which had been ranked as unacceptable by the State Board of Education for 6 consecutive years". He and a number of other young teachers were recruited with the hope of helping the school "change its blood". With a spirit of enthusiasm, but on the first day of entering the classroom, the 23-year-old teacher was surprised because no students wanted to do the homework. They sat lazily on their chairs, did not cause trouble, but did not respond to the lecture. The young teacher tried to give a simple graph, nearly 30 students still sat still. He continued to give the students a few calculations, many of them spread their hands out to count. Some of them did not even know how many sides a triangle had. “When I found out, I realized it wasn’t because the students were stubborn and didn’t want to do it, but because no one in the class knew how to solve it. Although they were 11th graders, most of their knowledge was still at the 6th or 7th grade level,” Mr. Vy recalled. In the first week, the entire curriculum that Mr. Vy had compiled over the three summer months had to be abandoned. Deciding not to follow the curriculum imposed from above, he recompiled it based on the students’ abilities and tried to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. But Mr. Vy admitted that the biggest difficulty at that time was not knowledge but the students’ will. Most of the nearly 200 students in the 7 classes Mr. Vy took over did not want to go to university. Even their parents did not care much about their studies. More than 70% of the female students here were pregnant or had given birth, and there was even an 11th grader who had 3 children. “That is very normal in this place,” Mr. Vy said. Having gaps in knowledge from lower grades but still being promoted to higher grades, Mr. Vy's students feel that Math knowledge is more and more unfamiliar and difficult as they get older. Being discouraged because of failing too many times makes them want to give up because they think they can't do it and will never pass this subject. "But I believe that no student wakes up wanting to be a failure. It's just that they don't have the opportunity to show off or don't know how to succeed," Mr. Vy said. Therefore, the first thing he does in his class is to help students "taste the sweetness of success". Instead of giving them difficult Math problems, he breaks them down step by step into simple Math problems so that students can see "it turns out, I can do it too". In that process, he also gradually "patches" the gaps, rebuilds a solid knowledge foundation before taking students into more complex problems. Thanks to that, they gradually regain their confidence. During his first year at Sam Houston, Mr. Vy was always at school from 6 a.m. and left at the latest at 6 or 7 p.m. to prepare lesson plans or tutor students who did not understand the lesson that day. “I hope that students will progress step by step, always want to try and see that they can succeed,” he said. Instead of using the state-wide test, Mr. Vy also designed his own test to evaluate students at each stage. Never getting angry with students, remembering the names and interests of each student he taught is also something Mr. Vy tried to do during his 4 years of teaching at Sam Houston. In addition, every school year, Mr. Vy also asked students to post their dreams on a board. The dreams were hung there for the whole year, a compass for them to look at and try to do whenever they felt discouraged or lost motivation. The young teacher's dedication throughout that time also brought results. At the end of the previous school year, only 33% of students passed the Texas State Math Standardized Test. After a year, that number increased to 98%. Some students thought they would not be able to graduate from high school, but in the end, they were able to get into American universities. Many of Mr. Vy's former students have even graduated and returned to work as teachers. "He not only imparted knowledge but also helped us change our attitudes towards life, have a sense of learning and find our passion," said Brittany Cantu, a female student who was once considered "unique" at Sam Houston. Before that, Cantu also hated studying and wanted to give up and quit school because she continuously failed subjects. "But Mr. Vy did not evaluate or judge me, but helped me learn how to rise up," the female student recalled, feeling grateful to the teacher for giving her the motivation to move forward. Until now, looking back, Mr. Vy still sees his path to the teaching profession as a destiny. Once a student specializing in Mathematics at Le Quy Don High School for the Gifted (Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa ), Vy received an A-level scholarship to study abroad in the UK, then was admitted to the Mathematics program at Imperial College London. Most of Vy's classmates and many former international students chose to work in banking or medicine. At that time, he himself never thought that he would stand on the podium in the future. "Honestly, when I was in school, what I was most afraid of was boredom. I used to think that if I taught for many years, teaching the same lesson every year, it would be very boring and a waste. Until I actually stood on the podium, I saw that my previous thinking was wrong." Vy's first time teaching a class was in the summer of his first year, when he studied at Imperial College London. He followed the professor to work as a teaching assistant, teaching students in Hackney, the poorest area of ​​London. But at that time, due to a lack of staff, he was proposed to be the main teacher. “When I was in class, I felt happy and really enjoyed this job. Before, I also worked many other jobs but none of them made me feel that way. After 3 weeks of teaching, I decided to tell my family about my dream of becoming a teacher.” Carrying that dream with him until he graduated, he had the opportunity to work at Sam Houston. Having met many weak and special students, Mr. Vy never felt discouraged. “I simply think that with good students, teachers only play a guiding role, because these students will have the ability to explore and learn on their own. It is weak students who need excellent teachers.” And most of all, for him, teaching weak students, helping them love learning and improve every day is the greatest happiness of a teacher. “Some of my colleagues cried tears of joy when they saw their students improve their final grades. I think that when you have passion for your job, you will never feel discouraged but only think about how to help students succeed in their studies step by step,” he said. After 4 years working at Sam Houston School, including 3 years as head of the Math Department, Mr. Van Tan Hoang Vy decided to temporarily stop teaching to focus on systematic research on pedagogy and curriculum development. His wish at that time was to spread and support more students beyond the scope of his school. In 2012, he continued to apply to Stanford University, pursuing a master's degree in Education. "Before entering the teaching profession, I had never attended any pedagogical school. Everything I did was instinctive," he said. But after 2 years of studying and graduating with honors at Stanford, Mr. Vy began to be more confident in his knowledge and skills. That was also the time when he wanted to return to contribute to the Vietnamese community. The idea of ​​a Vietnamese school in Houston began to take shape at that time. In 2016, Van Houston Academy was born, initially operating with the “After school” model - tutoring after school hours. However, according to Mr. Vy, this model, although financially beneficial, did not have much educational significance. “With 2 hours/day, I could not retain good teachers because the income was not enough to support them. That amount of time was also not enough to nurture students to make real progress.” Therefore, after two years, Mr. Vy decided to expand the model into a full-day private school. In 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, students had to stay at home, schools switched to online teaching. Mr. Vy’s newly established school also suffered because of its rudimentary facilities, unable to maintain teaching activities. That year, the school had to close, all students were sent back to public schools. “I thought I was bankrupt,” Mr. Vy recalled at that time. But fortunately, in 2021, the US government began to reopen, he decided to "save" the school by gathering 6 former teachers of the school, rebuilding from the foundation. The teachers at that time were also willing to give up all their jobs, return to join Mr. Vy in "saving" the school. Struggling to rebuild from enrollment, the facilities were not very spacious, but because of the teacher's "reputation" from the time of the "After school" model, many parents were willing to send their children back to study. However, there were also many doubts about a school founded by Vietnamese people. "Many people said that the school's transcripts were not recognized, so it would be very difficult to get into American universities. But I still maintained my stance, that if I do the best for the students, I will gain the trust of parents." According to US regulations, private schools must operate for at least two years to be considered for Cognia certification - one of the world's largest educational accreditation organizations. In 2022, five education experts were sent to the school to review lesson plans, curriculum, and interview teachers, students, and parents to score. Mr. Vy's school passed the assessment rounds with very high scores. Thanks to that, from a school with only 8 students, after 5 years of operation, the school has 200 students with 20 teachers. Currently, most of the school's students are of Vietnamese origin living in Houston. According to Mr. Vy, the mindset of parents, whether living in the US or Vietnam, still places great importance on achievements and puts pressure on their children. This inadvertently causes children to lose their passion for learning. "Changing parents' thinking, helping them understand the educational philosophy towards the long-term development of children is very difficult," Mr. Vy said. On the other hand, sometimes the pressure from parents on their children unintentionally creates an ever-widening gap. “At this time, teachers are the ones in the middle to resolve the problems.” Having studied abroad in high school, Mr. Vy also realized that the barriers for international students are understanding the complex American curriculum and the difficulty in transitioning to a new environment. Therefore, his wish is to support and accompany them so that they can easily integrate and adapt. “What I appreciate about schools in Vietnam is the community culture. Before, when I taught at Huston, I realized that students after leaving school would no longer connect with each other because they did not have many connections. Therefore, I want to have a school where students will feel that it is a place where they belong.” Every Friday at Van Houston Academy, students will have time to connect, exchange, play sports , practice yoga, etc. Students in the school also study according to their own schedule, suitable for each person's ability. They always have teachers to accompany and support them in their studies so that they do not feel lost when they do not understand the lesson. "Everything I do is to put students first. When I work for students, I believe that teachers will also want to stay and stick with me. And, the results that students achieve will be what makes parents trust the quality of training at the school," said Mr. Vy.

Photo: NVCC

Design: Hong Anh

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cuu-hoc-sinh-chuyen-toan-mo-truong-tu-dau-tien-cua-nguoi-viet-o-my-2292737.html