DERRY — Nita Robichaud, the new principal at the Derry Chinese School, has experienced the interaction between American and Chinese culture from both sides of the world.

Before teaching at the Derry school and then taking over as principal in September, Robichaud was a teacher at a school in China that taught English to the citizens of that country.

“In China, I hired mostly Americans to teach English to Chinese people,” she said. “Now, I'm finding people to teach Chinese to Americans.”

In her roles in both Derry and China, Robichaud said she has put an emphasis on building a bridge between China and the United States.

The Derry Chinese School is based out of the Marion Gerrish Community Center and began offering classes about a decade ago.

In the beginning, the focus was more on teaching the Chinese language and culture to younger children, specifically to Chinese children adopted by American parents in the region.

Over the past decade, however, there has been an increase in the number of Americans young and old who are interested in learning the language and being exposed to the culture, according to Robichaud.

“With more American interest in the language and culture, the school started to grow,” she said.

The school offers four levels of classes in Mandarin for students ranging from 3 years old to adults.

“We have an advanced, or adult, class that is at a much higher level,” Robichaud said. “It's mostly for business people who travel to China two or three times per year and want to learn the language.”

The language classes at the school are typically held on Saturday mornings at the Gerrish Center.

In addition to learning the language, the emphasis on Chinese culture is helped along by special classes and cultural celebrations during the year.

At the end of each semester, teachers host a party where the students can learn about Chinese dress, hear Chinese songs and play games that are popular in the country.

Over the next year, Robichaud said she wants to see the school grow so that there are even greater cultural offerings.

“We are in the process of starting a Chinese instrument class for the erhu, which is a traditional Chinese instrument,” she said. “I think it will help to make the school more complete.”

aswift@newstote.com