Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Principal Bryan Bordelon tries to reassure parents taking a chance on his new school: Don’t panic when you can’t understand your 4-year-old’s assignments.

Your child may even tell secrets in a language you don’t understand, he says. That’s a good thing. It means the students are learning.

Bordelon is leading a new public elementary school in Bellaire that will immerse mostly English-speaking students in Mandarin Chinese, teaching them to read, write and speak a language with growing importance in the global business arena.

The Houston Independent School District campus, which will open in August, is one of the first schools in Texas to offer a Mandarin immersion program and is among a small but growing number nationwide.

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