Honolulu’s Maryknoll School is one of three Catholic Mandarin immersion programs in the nation.

Maryknoll’s Mandarin immersion program enters its sixth year

• By Linsey Dower 
• Feb. 21, 2023
• Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Maryknoll School is preparing to introduce its incoming sixth graders to the next stage of its Man­darin immersion program, in which 80% of their classes will be taught in Mandarin.

The program is now in its sixth year, and the sixth graders will have completed grades K-5 with 50% of their classes taught in the language.

At this point they are expected to be “more or less” fluent in the language, said Maryknoll immersion teacher Emily Pettit. Their math and science courses, which were previously taught in Mandarin, will resume in English. The Mandarin courses available to them will also become more geared toward history and culture.

By the time students reach the eighth grade, they are expected to be completely fluent in reading, writing, listening and speaking the language.

“We’re preparing our students to have yet one more thing in their tool belt,” said Laurie Carlos, Maryknoll’s director of marketing communication. “From kindergarten to our fifth grade class, their use of the language is more than 50% of their day.”

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