Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Parents who are looking at Mandarin immersion in particular (i.e. Starr King and Jose Ortega) for Kindergarten should remember that it works a little different than other immersion and general education programs.

The District reserves half the spaces for Mandarin-speakers and the rest go to non-Mandarin speakers.

So in Round One of the lottery, only half of the spaces will go to non-Mandarin speakers, 22 at Starr King and 11 at Jose Ortega. Both schools have quite a few siblings this year, so those numbers will be even lower.

However – Historically (and we expect no huge change for 2010-2011) the Mandarin spaces have not filled. We have usually gotten between one and two Mandarin speakers per class.*

NOTE: If your child speaks Mandarin  you will get in in Round One if you answer “Mandarin” to any of the four Home Language Survey questions on the application.

If you do not get in (but you answered yes to the Home Language Survey questions) it’s because of a glitch in the program. Run, do not walk, to the District. This happened to a couple of families last year  and in each that we could identify, it just took one call or visit to the District to get the kid in. Pretty much any child who speaks  Mandarin will get whichever school they want.

But there’s also good news for non-Mandarin speakers. Unlike almost all other programs, close to half the seats in Mandarin immersion open up in Round Two (and because of siblings this year it may be more seats in Round Two than Round One).

So, if your child does not speak  Mandarin  and you don’t get in to one of the Mandarin immersion programs in Round One, there is still a very good chance that you will get in in Round Two.

Parents of First Graders take note: There is no requirement that children coming in to 1st grade immersion have any knowledge of the target language (i.e. Mandarin.) Each year we have several families who come in to Mandarin Immersion in first grade and their kids do just fine. Because people move over the summer, there are almost always a few spaces open. If you’re thinking of this option, there are numerous camps and summer programs that can help your child become more comfortable with Mandarin over the summer. But kids who’ve just started cold, with no previous Mandarin experience, have also done fine.

If you have more questions, please contact the schools, or email us.

Beth Weise
President, Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

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*Why do so few Mandarin-speaking families apply to the Mandarin Immersion programs? Several reasons that we’ve heard:

– Often these families are most concerned about their child learning English, not Mandarin.

– They feel they can teach their children Mandarin at home.

– They prefer schools with higher test scores

– Some don’t feel comfortable in the neighborhoods where the schools are.

But actually, we’re not entirely sure. If you’re a Mandarin-speaker and have specific reasons you’re not interested in Mandarin immersion, we would love to hear them, as it might help us better create programs that appeal to our target families.