The State of Mandarin Immersion: April 2021 By Elizabeth Weise As of April there are 331 Mandarin immersion schools in the United States, up from 324 a year ago. That increase of just seven schools is the smallest since 2006, though it of course comes in the midst of a global pandemic which has severely…

From Hawai’i Public Radio Maryknoll School in Honolulu has a new president — and she has a long history with the school.  Shana Tong stepped up to serve as the interim head of school after the previous president, Perry Martin, departed this past summer. Tong’s very familiar with the school — she attended Maryknoll from kindergarten through…

In March, school officials in Phoenix, Arizona notified parents at the Horseshoe Trails Elementary School Mandarin immersion program the popular program would be cut in the 2021-2022 school year. This came as a shock to parents and they began to work tirelessly to keep the now six-year-old program going. The school district has given various,…

You don’t see a headline like that on every Mandarin immersion post, do you? But in this case, it’s warranted. After 40 years of wandering around San Francisco, the nation’s oldest Mandarin immersion school is finally getting a forever home — in the spacious campus of a Catholic girls’ high school in San Francisco that…

Parents of younger children won’t have heard about this so much, but it’s a growing movement in high schools nationwide. If your child graduates high school and can demonstrate proficiency in two or more languages, they can get a Seal of Biliteracy that includes a medal (in many states) a special seal on their diploma,…

Sky Kids will have Mandarin immersion summer camps in San Francisco this summer and it’s looking like Taiwan as well, though that remains to be seen. Note that both are day camps so you’ve got to be in the area or have friends your child can stay with. Sky Kids Summer 2021 Camp Update From…

It’s with a heavy heart that I write this. The murders in Atlanta are fresh in everyone’s minds and this weekend there will be Asian solidarity marches and celebrations across the country. For those of us with children in Chinese immersion programs, this is hitting especially hard. Many of our families are Asian themselves, others…