Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

3 responses to “New schools added in Mandarin immersion school list”

1. 

   Linda Bonder

   February 17, 2010

   The International School (TIS) in Portland, Oregon has been teaching Mandarin full immersion since 1996. Our students are fully immersed in Mandarin language and culture from age 3 through fifth grade, developing solid fluency in writing, speaking and understanding.

   In 2006, our students were the first young children in the world to take and pass the Chinese government proficiency test (HSK for its Chinese initials), likened to the Test of English as a Foreign Language in the United States. The HSK test is used for foreigners in China as a requirement to enter university an undergraduate student and as a reference for hiring decisions. For the fourth straight school year, this year’s fifth grade class at The International School passed the HSK test with flying colors. Five of our students passed at an “A” level with one student achieving a near perfect score.

   Next month TIS students will be traveling to China for two weeks on our annual fifth grade Capstone Study Abroad. The students will spend one week living at a boarding school and attending classes with their Chinese peers. The second week they will visit historical and cultural sites they have studied around the country.

   The International School also teaches full Spanish and Japanese immersion programs on the same campus, so our Mandarin immersion students interact daily with other international cultures and languages.

   As an International Baccalaureate (IB) candidate school, The International School teaches through guided inquiry, a method that centers on student questions. Rather than working through a standard lesson and memorizing facts, students study a central idea by creating and exploring their own questions. Through this concept-driven process, children gain deep understanding and learn the skills needed to acquire, organize, and communicate knowledge. It is those skills that enable them to become independent learners, capable of pursuing knowledge beyond the classroom and throughout life.

   The school was founded in 1990 and today educates nearly 400 students including 160 students in the Mandarin immersion program.

   I would be happy to provide photos or anything additional information.
   http://www.intlschool.org
   503-226-2496

   Reply
   1. 

      elizabethweise

      February 17, 2010

      I added your school to our listings. Thanks.

      Reply
2. 

   Elaine

   February 28, 2010

   Vancouver School District in Washington State has begun a new Mandarin Immersion Program starting from Kindergarten level last year. It’s a new program, and the parents are highly supportive!

   Reply