Those of us whose children are in schools where a Mandarin immersion program was placed to bring in middle class families know these issues well. It can work, but it’s hard work. Beth When the melting pot boils over For parents and educators striving to create diverse schools, what happens when good intentions run into…

$300 Million Scholarship for Study in China Signals a New Focus By KEITH BRADSHER Published: April 20, 2013 HONG KONG — The private-equity tycoon Stephen A. Schwarzman, backed by an array of mostly Western blue-chip companies with interests in China, is creating a $300 million scholarship for study in China that he hopes will rival the Rhodes…

  Michael Friberg for The New York Times Lily Buneo, teaching Portuguese at Lakeview Elementary in Provo, Utah. <nyt_byline> By JACK HEALY Published: April 19, 2013 FACEBOOK TWITTER GOOGLE+ SAVE E-MAIL SHARE PRINT REPRINTS <nyt_text><nyt_correction_top> PROVO, Utah — In this deeply Mormon state, the school day is being translated into Chinese. Strains of Taiwanese pop songs…

April 14, 2013 Texas Opens Second Chinese Immersion Elementary School in Austin this Fall of 2013 By Lelan Miller Austin Independent School District in the state capital of Texas is opening its first ever Chinese immersion elementary school this fall of 2013. Doss Elementary School will be the first Austin elementary school and the second…

An update from the story below, posted on April 5. LA Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy sent an email to parents at the school on April 9 saying that the Mandarin immersion program will get three Kindergarten classes next year. That’s one down from this year, when they began with four, but one more…

An experiment in teaching a second language as part of the everyday experience in the classroom has blossomed into a growing program in the Washington County School District. Since its inception a few years ago at what is now Dixie Sun Elementary, dual immersion has gone from a controversial topic to a popular program with…

There’s a San Francisco Bay area  Mandarin-speaking mom named Vickie Tsui who was frustrated enough at the lack of good bilingual books that she sat down and wrote one herself. She’s also got great tips about raising bilingual kids when you speak Mandarin but the world around you doesn’t. Check out her blog (and her…