Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Fourth grade Mandarin immersion students from Maryland sing for First Lady

    The students performed the songs “Jasmine Flower” (茉莉花) and “Songs & Smiles” (歌声与微笑) The school’s Mandarin immersion program launched in the 2014-2015 school year.

    From: SHARON O’MALLEY
    September 29, 2026 Streetcar Suburbs Publishing

    Four fourth-graders from Paint Branch Elementary School in College Park helped serenade first lady Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, the first lady of China, on Sept. 24 at the National Museum of Asian Art.

    The concert was a stop on Peng’s day out with her American counterpart during an official state visit to the United States with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    Please read more here.

  • Utah’s Chinese Dual Language Immersion Program serves 12,000 students in 98 schools

    Reuters Connect

    The U.S. state of Utah’s Chinese Dual Language Immersion Program has served nearly 12,000 students from grades 1 to 12 in 98 schools, as many local parents are showing a vision that learning Chinese will help their kids gain better opportunities in the future.

    Implementation of the program started in Utah in 2009, one year after the state adopted a legislation to provide financial support for bilingual immersion education.

    “I have been learning Chinese for seven years,” said a local student with a Chinese name He Jie in Chinese.

    Please read more here.

  • Chapel Hill NC superintendent wants to to disband 24-year-old Mandarin immersion program

    The program at Glenwood Elementary will be disbanded and students moved to their neighborhood schools for the next school year. Earlier this month the school board had voted to move the Mandarin program to a different school. The superintendent said the program “would reduce the district’s flexibility to adjust school boundaries.” The program is popular and, as far as I can tell, has always filled its Kindergarten class.

    The District also wants to dissolve a separate world language program at Glenwood. More on that here.

    News & Observer By Tammy Grubb

    September 15, 2026

    Parents call out ‘false promises’ as CHCCS chief advises ending Mandarin track By Tammy Grubb September 15, 2026 5:30 AM

    Families learned Monday that Glenwood Elementary School’s Mandarin world language magnet program could end in June. Chapel Hill-Carrboro Superintendent Rodney Trice sent out an email telling district families he will recommend the school board disband Glenwood’s Mandarin world language track and move the students now enrolled in it to their neighborhood schools next school year.

    Please read more here.

  • Wyoming’s only Mandarin immersion program going strong

    Casper Elementary School Is Only Public School In State To Offer Mandarin In Dual Language Immersion

    Paradise Valley Elementary School in Casper is the only public school in Wyoming that offers Mandarin Chinese in a dual-language immersion setting where students spend half the day learning that language and the other half in English.

    Dale Killingbeck The Cowboy State Daily

    January 27, 2025

    CASPER — At a recent open house, Michael and Ruth Capshaw, and their 4-year-old daughter Lyra were excited about the potential for her to start learning to speak Mandarin.

    They were greeted by native-speaking Chinese teachers in the immersion classroom and on the walls were Chinese characters next to words and cartoon graphics. A crafted Chinese dragon model sat on a top of a bookcase.

    The Casper elementary represents the only public school in Wyoming that gives parents an option to have their child taught Mandarin in a dual-language immersion setting where students spend half the day learning the language and the other half in English.

    Please read more here.

  • Chapel Hill Mandarin immersion program move stirs anger

    Glenwood Elementary School students will move to different schools next August following a school board vote Thursday to split the school’s Mandarin language program. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board’s 5-2 vote moves the Mandarin dual-language track to Rashkis Elementary, displacing roughly 85 students at that school.

    Please read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article316925805.html#storylink=cpy

    More on the story here.

  • Parent pressure reverses decision to close Mandarin immersion program in Maryland

    A question I have, perhaps someone can answer this – do bilingual teachers receive more pay than monolingual ones? In San Francisco, they don’t. Buying a Mandarin curriculum certainly costs money, and having a specific dean for it is an extra salary expense. But how does it cost $1.2 million extra to run the program?

    SHARON O’MALLEY

    June 10, 2026

    In a reversal of an earlier decision, the Prince George’s County school superintendent announced on June 4 that the Chinese immersion programs at Paint Branch Elementary School in College Park, Greenbelt Middle School and Largo High School will continue with full funding for another year.

    Earlier this year, the county proposed to close the all-student immersion program at Paint Branch, which costs approximately $1.2 million a year to operate with 12 to 15 bilingual teachers and a dedicated dean. In addition, county officials said they intended to phase out the smaller programs at Greenbelt Middle and Largo High by denying admission to new sixth- and ninth-graders but allowing students already enrolled to continue in immersion until they graduated.

    Please read more here.

  • Once again, a district sets out to harm a Mandarin immersion program (#2 in a series)

    I’ve decided I’m going to start pulling an Onion, and use the same headline every time a district sets out to mess with a thriving Mandarin immersion program. In this instance, we’re in North Carolina, where a survey found that 41% of families “said they were likely to leave the district if its dual language and world language tracks were split between different schools.”

    CHCCS Board of Education discuss what’s next for Glenwood Elementary’s students, acclaimed Mandarin program

    From: The Daily Tar Heel

    By Sarah Clements, July 21, 2026

    The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education met Thursday in the first regularly scheduled meeting since its vote to closeGlenwood Elementary School after the 2026-27 school year. 

    Last month, the board voted to close Glenwood to save money amid declining student enrollment. Researchers from N.C. State University’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education presented the board with possibilities of where to redistrict students based on the capacity of the district’s other elementary schools and how to best minimize any disruption to students and staff. 

    “We’re going to see a bunch of numbers that deal with enrollment capacity, transportation models — you name it, and all of that is important for making the decision, but much like we’ve heard tonight from parents and community members, and even prior to tonight, behind each of these data points is a student, is a family. Teachers also need to be a part of that,” Superintendent Rodney Trice said. 

    Please read more here.

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    Glenwood Elementary Parents Urge School Board to Keep Programs Together as Relocation Conversations Begin

    From Chapelboro.com
    Aaron Keck | Jul 20, 2026

    On June 4, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education voted to close Glenwood Elementary School next year, due to an expected drop in state-level funding caused by declining enrollment across the district. Glenwood is currently a magnet school that houses the district’s highly acclaimed Mandarin program – meaning the school board now has to decide where those programs will end up next.

    That process began on Thursday, as the school board and district staff gathered to receive data points about Glenwood’s magnet program and the options for rehousing it. And while there were many to be shared and weighed, Superintendent Rodney Trice reminded the board members that “behind each of these data points is a student.”

    What is certain is that the program and focus on Mandarin will be preserved. Commonly referred to as “STEAM²” – or STEAMM, in other words, with the extra M for Mandarin – the dual-language program has earned Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools a reputation that extends literally around the world.

    Please read more here.

    Another story here.