RALEIGH — Kindergartner Ava Fletcher has been learning Mandarin for just a few months in her classroom at Stough Elementary School. But already she can write her name in Chinese characters, sing songs such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and chatter confidently in Mandarin about the books she loves and the friends she plays with.

“I like that I get to learn and that I get to sing,” said Ava, 6, of her class.

Eighteen students are enrolled in the Mandarin immersion program at Stough Elementary on Edwards Mill Road in Raleigh. The program began this year with students from the school’s neighborhood attendance area and will become a magnet next year, so students from across the county can apply to attend.

The magnet application period for Wake County schools runs through Thursday.

At Stough, kindergartners spend almost all of their day learning in Mandarin. The class has one English literacy class each day and also takes specials such as physical education and art in English.