The state of Mandarin Immersion in 2017

By Elizabeth Weise

Mandarin immersion programs in the United States continue to expand, with nine new programs scheduled to launch in the fall of 2017 for the 2017-2018 school year. For the coming school year, there will be at least 235 Mandarin immersion programs in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

Here’s an update for the current State of Mandarin Immersion, based on the database of programs I maintain here. I have tried to keep it as up to date and accurate as possible, but if you find errors, please send me an email so I can correct them

March 2017 Numbers

Total schools as of the 2017-2018 school year          235

New schools for 2017-2018

Crest Elementary School	Eugene	OR
Northern Hills High School	Grand Rapids	MI
PUC International Preparatory Academy	Los Angeles	CA
Fred Newhart Middle Schoo	Mission Viejo	CA
Elementary 23	Overland Park	KS
Serra campus	Richmond	CA
South Fork Elementary	Rigby	ID
Desert Canyon Elementary	Scottsdale	AZ
Mesa Elementary School	West Covina	CA

School type

Public                                                  170      72.3%

Charter                                                25       10.6%

Private                                                 40       17.0%

What grades

K – 5 or 6         149                  63.4%

K – 8                38                    16.1%

Middle school 35                    14.8%

K – 12               5                      2.1%

High School     7                      2.9%

Middle + High School  1          0.4%

TOTAL             235

Percent Time in Mandarin 

50/50                                      125      64.7%

More than 60%                       65        33.6%

80 and above                         59        30.5%

Strand versus whole school

Strand             164      84.9%

Whole             29        15.0%

 

Simplified/Traditional

Simplified       162      83.5%

Traditional      32        16.4%

Programs by State:

Of total, California is 24.6%, Utah is 19.1%

CA	58
UT	45
NY	12
AZ	10
MI	10
MN	10
NC	9
OR	9
CO	8
GA	8
IL	8
MD	7
WA	7
SC	5
DE	4
TX	4
NJ	3
DC	2
IN	2
MA	2
OK	2
AK	1
FL	1
ID	1
KS	1
LA	1
MO	1
OH	1
RI	1
WI	1
WY	1