Northwest Chinese Academy near Portland, Ore. moves to new home

The Northwest Chinese Academy is a K – 8 private Mandarin immersion school that until this year has been located in Beaverton, Ore. just outside of Portland, Ore. Beginning next year it will move to a new, expanded campus in nearby Aloha, Ore. Founded in 2008, the school’s move will allow it to double in size.

I’ve heard excellent things about the program, but some of the statements in the press release issued by the school about the move are perhaps due to excessive love on the part of the school community and might not be meant to be taken literally.

The Northwest Chinese Academy is not “a life changing education education not offered anywhere else in the nation,” if by that means the school offers a K – 8 Mandarin immersion program. There are at least 50 such schools in the United States. In fact, there are another eight that are  K – 12.

The release also states that it is “the only school in the nation to provide the highest level of Mandarin Chinese immersion…”

I don’t know what their scores are, but I’d wager that some of the more rigorous K – 8 Mandarin immersion programs nationwide are very likely in the same range, if not higher given that some are much older. For example, the Chinese American International School in San Francisco has been at it for more than 30 years.

No disrespect meant to a fine program but the language in the release might have been a tad overstated. But hey, having a school and parent community who love and treasure their program this much is indeed a gift beyond measure. That said, perhaps this is a bit of 画蛇添足 or gilding the lily.

From the local Beaverton Patch blog:

From Northwest Chinese Academy: The only school in the nation to provide the highest level of Mandarin Chinese immersion is moving to Aloha in July 2018 and expanding the number of entry slots available in preschool
and kindergarten.

Learn more about the school and meet parents, teachers and students at a end-of-school-year carnival, June 23, 2018, 11 am – 1 pm.

Northwest Chinese Academy (NWCA) purchased the current Faith Bible School campus in Aloha, Oregon. NWCA will be moving to the new campus this July 2018.

Located off of SW 170th and Tualatin Valley Highway at 16860 SW Blanton Street, Aloha, OR, the expansion has been a 10-year dream finally fulfilled.

“We are so excited to find our forever home. We love that our 3-acre campus is clustered near other schools like the International School of Beaverton and Aloha-Huber. The move westward will allow us to offer a Mandarin immersion education to the growing communities of Aloha and Hillsboro, while remaining very accessible to our Beaverton families,” says preschool parent and Advisory Board member Amber Guillory Richardson.

This move enables NWCA to double its capacity and provide up to 200 children with a life changing education not offered anywhere else in the nation.

More here.