Will magnet schools survive the HISD budget crisis? Bernardo Pohl February 7, 2018 Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle Magnets, like the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School, have been the pride and joy of HISD for many decades. In the spring of 2011, the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and the city’s residents found themselves…

This comes for the blog of Virginia Duan, a Taiwanese American blogger who writes on identity, homeschooling, Chinese/English bilingual education and raising multi-ethnic kids among other topics. Duan speaks Mandarin and is teaching it to her kids, so she faces a different set of challenges and opportunities than non-Chinese speaking parents hoping to have their kids learn…

This is from last year, I’m hoping to hear from some parents at the school now to hear how it’s going and I’ll report back. – Beth Think you could learn Mandarin? This Kansas kindergarten classroom is Chinese-only BY KATY BERGEN kbergen@kcstar.com October 26, 2017 11:39 AM On a recent morning in Overland Park, Kan.,…

Note: This is an issue in colleges and universities but not, as far as I’ve ever heard, in K-12 programs. But it is real and anyone with kids in a Mandarin immersion program should know about what’s going on, if only to be able to address these issues when others bring them up. My theory…

Charter school issues are frequently contentious, so there’s an overlay here above and beyond Mandarin immersion. That said, parents who want their kids to learn Mandarin face an uphill road in many areas. If their local school district says no, one option is for them to try to launch a charter. But then they run…

Updated Jan. 17. Beth’s note: The premise of the article linked to below is an interesting one, and one that touches on many issues families and schools negotiate when it comes to immersion programs in general. The basic premise is that in two-way immersion programs in schools that have specific enrollment boundaries it’s too easy…

Beacon Hill school seeks to bridge language and cultural gap DECEMBER 21, 2017  By Jill Christensen NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Barriers do not exist at Beacon Hill International Elementary School, both physically and culturally. With its open concept classroom style, Beacon Hill Elementary not only encourages cohesiveness through the layout of its classrooms, but it strives…