Bac Fun Wong

Bak Fun Wong is the Deputy Superintendent of Schools and the Principal of the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Chinatown. He has been the principal since the school’s opening in 1999 and has lived in Chinatown for six years. He is a former Principal of the Josiah Quincy Elementary School. He is on the board of trustees on the Asian American Civic Association (AACA), and is a member of American Chinese Christian Educational Social Services (ACCESS). He is also involved with the YMCA, the Chinatown Trust Fund, is on the board of trustees at Bunker Hill Community College, and is a member of the Harvard Principal Center.

Wong designed and organized the innovative Josiah Quincy School. The Josiah Quincy upper school is a pilot school for the High School Renewal and Boston Small Schools Network. This school was designed to give teachers and parents a voice in school operations and planning. The school provides educational enrichment as well as cultural awareness.

Wong hopes that in the future Chinatown will have more space for its students and young adults. “Our young people need more space. We need a youth activity center, or a theatre or auditorium. Our young people have no place to go” he said. Wong has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Chinatown’s student population.

Wong says that he has seen a change in Chinatown over the past six years. “There is an increasing social gap in Chinatown. There are more upper class people than there were in the past. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing.” He is concerned that this gap will increase and Chinatown’s social service needs will become greater.

Wong enjoys the great diversity of the Chinatown community. His favorite place in Chinatown is the corner of Beach Street and Harrison Street. “If you stand there, you can see the differences between the young and the aged, the old and the new. It reminds us of our culture and history” he said.

Wong obtains his information about Chinatown’s events and issues from the Chinatown’s many organizations, as well as from the Sampan Newspaper.