He says the school motto-"combining hands and brain, adopting creative analysis"－is inherited from Alley's idea of education, which advocates students' comprehension of multiple production skills through practical technical education, as well as being able to understand a situation and solve new problems with creativity.

He adds that the story of Alley, and his spirit of pursuing ones' dreams, selfless contribution and internationalism, is promoted among students.

In August 2012, Shandan opened the Alley memorial museum with photos and relics recounting his story. Entry is free and the museum receives about 100,000 visitors annually. In 1980, he donated about 4,000 historical items and a massive number of books from his collection to Shandan, to help build a cultural relics exhibition hall and a library in the county. He visited Shandan six times since he settled down in Beijing in 1953. He passed away in 1987 in Beijing. Half of his ashes were scattered at the school's former farm, and the other half was buried at the same cemetery in Shandan as the school's first British principal, George Hogg, who died in 1945.

As well as his experience in Shandan, since coming to China in 1927, Alley also worked and lived in multiple parts of China embroiled in war and the subsequent revolution, such as Shanghai, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. He was a leader and founder of the Gung Ho movement, which organized jobless workers and refugees for production to support the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He also introduced New China at many international occasions.