Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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Author: Elizabeth Weise

  • Fewer than 2,000 Americans are studying in China today

    A fascinating article. Back in 2015, there were more than 20,000 Americans studying in China. Today it’s less than a tenth that. Whatever the future brings, the U.S. and China need to better understand each other, and you can’t get the level of understanding necessary by watching a few movies on Netflix. It takes making…

  • Utah education board wins immunity in Mandarin immersion curriculum dispute

    This is pretty in the weeds, but of interest to a lot of teachers and administrators. Utah education board wins immunity in curriculum dispute By George Basharis, J.D. A curriculum vendor’s copyright and business interference claims failed after a federal court determined that Utah’s education board is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity as an arm…

  • Got kids in Mandarin immersion? These researchers would love to interview you

    Note that the referral for this research came through Dr. Shuhan Wang, who for many years ran the Mandarin immersion research group at the Asia Society. So they’re quite reputable. About the Research: We are a research team led by Professor Chun Chen-Cheng from the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language at…

  • A $52,000 private Mandarin immersion school opens as San Francisco Unified’s waitlists grow

    San Francisco Chronicle By Jill Tucker July 4, 2026 In the race to attract more families to San Francisco’s public schools, district officials are in the process of opening a Mandarin immersion school next year, starting with just under 90 transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students. If the district manages to open just over a year from now, it will…

  • Once again, a district sets out to destroy a Mandarin immersion program

    Chinese immersion program is renamed after parent pushback The parents are correct – immersion programs are at least 50% in the target language through fifth grade, generally shifting to around 30% in middle school and one (or in exceptional cases, two) classes per day in high school. Cambridge no longer has a true Mandarin immersion…

  • Fort Collins, CO Mandarin immersion school getting new building

    AXIS International Academy is a K-5 charter school that offers 50/50 immersion programs in Mandarin, Spanish and French. An article about their new building (partly behind a paywall) is here. Info about the school is here. The school’s enrollment seems to be climbing (figures here.) Again, it baffles me that charter schools keep opening that…

  • Big new report on Mandarin immersion programs just published

    Want to know what’s up with Mandarin immersion programs in the US? Looking for information on how to help your child’s school? Trying to convince your school district to open a new Mandarin immersion program? There’s a new report out for you. Published this month, it titled, “PreK – 12 Mandarin Immersion Programs in the…