The Boston Globe has a story that I had completely missed: The closed Chester College in Chester, N.H., has been bought by Busche Academy, a Chinese private school that plans to bring as many as 300 Chinese students here, perhaps next year, to get an American high school education.
At the August ceremony in Chester, it was apparent what motivated students and parents. Not everybody spoke English, but they all knew two words: MIT and Harvard.
But the company’s plan is off to a rocky start. The school must build a larger dining room and revise its expansion plans to meet local building and safety codes before it can host more students. In addition, Busche Academy cannot issue diplomas because it is not accredited by the state. At least for now, it will function like a study-abroad campus for Chinese elementary and middle schoolers.
Chester shut in 2012 after six decades as a small private four-year college – a sign of financial problems facing many such schools in New England, where the number of graduating seniors has plateaued.
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