Decade-old Michigan Mandarin immersion program to be phased out

The Daily News, Feb. 25, 2023

By Cory Smith

GREENVILLE — A second-language curriculum that has been utilized to teach students how to read and speak Mandarin for more than a decade at Greenville Public Schools is now scheduled to be phased out of the district, starting with the upcoming school year. 

Since 2012, Greenville has offered a Chinese immersion program, which begins for students at Walnut Hills Elementary School in kindergarten, teaching students to eventually become bilingual and biliterate in Mandarin. 

While the curriculum was originally launched as a six-year commitment allowing participating students to study and learn the language from kindergarten through fifth grade, it has since expanded into secondary education (middle school and high school) via a partnership with Western Michigan University. 

Chinese immersion students can continue with the program through high school, concluding upon graduating from Greenville High School while having earned up to 28 college credits at no cost to the student who will have earned a college minor in Mandarin.

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However, on Feb. 15, Superintendent Wayne Roedel communicated, first in person with teachers at Walnut Hills and then by email with parents of students at the school, that the program was coming to an end.

“The Chinese immersion program has been a point of pride for the Greenville community since its inception in 2012. However, over time, it has become clear that the program must be reviewed as some students, especially in grades K through 5, underperform expectations both academically and behaviorally,” he wrote in his email. 

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