Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

The Mandarin immersion program at Cpl. Michael Middlebrook Elementary School in Lafayette, Louisiana opened in 2010. It was closed at the end of the 2023-2024 school year due to low enrollment, despite strong opposition from parents. It appears that a local charter school, Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy, has taken up the Mandarin immersion baton there.

Lafayette school board votes to end Mandarin Chinese immersion at Middlebrook

The Lafayette Parish School Board voted on Wednesday to shutter the Chinese immersion program at Cpl. Michael Middlebrook Elementary School, bringing the language program to an end after 14 years.

The board voted 4-3 to close the program, which will cease operation at the end of this school year. Board members David LeJeune, Britt Latiolais, Hannah Smith Mason and Jeremy Hidalgo voted to close the program. Board members Kate Bailey Labue, who had a family member speak in favor of maintaining the program, and Chad Desormeaux abstained from the vote. 

Please read more here.

And on the move to Charter Schools USA, which will begin a Mandarin immersion K – 5 program in August of 2025, please read more here.

.