Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Brooklyn School to open Mandarin & French immersion next year

    Some Schools Buck Trend Of High Costs

    By SOPHIA HOLLANDER

    Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street JournalWilliamsburg Northside kept tuition low—at $21,850—for its elementary school, which it opened in 2009. The private school also has an infant and toddler center and a preschool.

    In an age of private school educations that cost up to $40,000 a year, eight new or expanding Brooklyn schools are attracting attention with a simple appeal: lower tuition.

    These schools charge a range of annual prices—from nothing for some low-income students to as much as $23,000 at the most expensive end—that they say draws a more diverse student body. The schools also tend to feature progressive education styles, a commitment to engaging with their local neighborhoods and an international flair.

    “From the very beginning we made the conscious choice to keep our tuition low so we could be a real choice to the public schools as well as other private schools,” said Amy Warden, the head of school at Williamsburg Northside, which opened an elementary school in 2009 and charges $21,850.

    Please read more here, (news of the Brooklyn school is in the last paragraph)

  • Many families “don’t get” value of language immersion

    The Sensitive Subject of Educational Reform

    Posted: 1/16/12 04:18 PM ET
     From the Huffington Post

    I am a SWISS Trilingual School parent. I am also the director of this small, unfortunately private, full-immersion school in Atlanta, Ga. Currently we are a K-3rd elementary school, and projected to the 12th grade. Most importantly, I am “G’s” mom and her awesomeness has nothing to do with me. I believe that a full-immersion language acquisition education is the future of education, not just in America, but around the world, and I believe that this investment will save our world economy.

    Our journey began with my sister and her husband, parents to two girls who, from birth, were exposed to Japanese, French, Chinese, Spanish and English. Live-in au pairs and tutors helped to make this possible. When they married they decided to invest all of their money where they thought it would be most useful: in their children. By 2006 they moved to Atlanta and opened a school. With the impending birth of our daughter, we moved to Atlanta in 2008 so that she could receive this gift. On the day of her birth, she was held by my sister’s Japanese au-pair. From the day of her birth my sister spoke to her entirely in French. When she was 1 year old, her best friend was a 15-year-old Taiwanese exchange student. At 13 months, she said, “I want cake” in Mandarin; our decision had been validated.

     

    Please read more here.

  • More parents see value in Mandarin language instruction


    Chinese1-0120-ED-ELM-170.jpg
    Paul Iwanaga

    Foreign language immersion program from Language Stars features William Li from Bejing in a play-based program at the Elmhurst Public Library, Jan. 12, 2012. Li gets “five” from an audience member. Staff photo by Paul Iwanaga | snapshots.mysuburbanlife.com/1394381

    Chinese1-0120-ED-ELM-170.jpg
    Chinese2-0120-ED-ELM-170.jpg
    Posted Jan 20, 2012 @ 02:28 PM
    Elmhurst, IL —

    It offers foreign language education staples German, French and Italian, but it’s Mandarin Chinese that’s now the second most popular course, after Spanish, at Language Stars.

    “Parents are recognizing that Mandarin is up-and-coming, and important in the global business market,” said Katy Mass, marketing director for Language Stars, a Hinsdale-based business that teaches foreign languages to young children. “And they want their children to have that advantage.”

    The business started offering Mandarin about eight or nine years ago, she said, and added that other reasons, beyond forward looking career success, have also led parents to enroll their students in the eastern language.

    “We … have a lot of families who had adopted children from China, and they’d like to have their children continue in their native language,” she said. “And then we have a lot of parents, or dads, who do business in China.”

    The business hosted three free different story and game times in French, Spanish and Mandarin, respectively, at the Elmhurst Public Library last week.

    Please read more here.

  • District 27 Senate Applauds DOE’s Decision To Reject Hua Mei Charter School

    District 27 Senate Applauds DOE’s Decision To Reject Hua Mei Charter School

    BY   |  SATURDAY, JAN 21, 2012 12:49PM  |  COMMENTS (0)

     This release was just sent from the District 27 Senate, which includes Senator Richard J. Codey, Assemblywoman Mila M. Jasey and Assemblyman John F. McKeon, who attended the rally against Hua Mei, the proposed Mandarin Immersion charter on January 6:

    Senator Richard J. Codey, Assemblywoman Mila M. Jasey and Assemblyman John F. McKeon applaud Friday’s decision by state Department of Education Acting Commisioner Chris Cerf rejecting the Hua Mei charter school application.

    The proposed Maplewood based Mandarin-immersion school would have drawn students from the South Orange\Maplewood and West Orange school districts, and potentially impacted Livingston and Millburn. All of these communities are part of District 27, represented by the three lawmakers.

    “This is a victory for the people of our district who fought hard to oppose a charter school in one of our state’s highest performing school districts,” Codey (D-Essex\Morris) said. “We were glad to be able to lead the fight to stop and prevent funds from being diverted from our already cash-strapped public schools.”

     

    Please read more here.

  • VIDEO: Chinese immersion programs could be among federal cuts for Beaufort County schools

     

    By RACHEL HEATON
    rheaton@beaufortgazette.com
    843-706-8177
    Published Monday, January 23, 2012
    Follow ‘Homeroom’ on Twitter

    Documents

    When a visitor enters one classroom at Hilton Head Island Elementary School, 26 first-graders turn toward the door and shout their welcome.”Ni Hao!”

    That’s “hello” in Mandarin.

    The students solve math problems in the language and follow basic classroom commands. They’ve learned about Chinese culture and dutifully work to write the language’s intricate characters.

    The class learns mostly in Mandarin as part of an immersion program the Beaufort County School District began in 2010. More than 80 first- and second-graders at Hilton Head Elementary and Broad River Elementary schools participate.

    But the grant that funds them — the Foreign Language Assistance Program, which provided $1.3 million over five years — could be cut from the federal budget this year. Those grants would have run through 2015, but funding for the program has been eliminated by the House of Representatives. The legislation has not passed the Senate.That means the district would have to find the money for its programs elsewhere, reduce their scope or end them altogether.

  • More parents demand immersion programs to help children thrive in a global society

    Learning in multiple languages

    More parents demand immersion programs to help children thrive in a global society

    Teaching assistant Jiao Yang directs Leo Edward Martinez to the whiteboard during an assignment in Mandarin immersion at Riverview Elementary School in Lakeside.
    Teaching assistant Jiao Yang directs Leo Edward Martinez to the whiteboard during an assignment in Mandarin immersion at Riverview Elementary School in Lakeside. — John Gastaldo
    Photo of

    Written by
    Maureen Magee
     A kindergartner at Nestor Language Academy, Violet Jaime, is taught just about everything in Spanish — reading, writing, math, music and what’s on the menu in the cafeteria. So are her classmates, a combination of English and Spanish speakers.
    English instruction will gradually increase to 50 percent by fifth grade, when most Nestor students typically achieve bilingual status.

    At Lakeside’s Riverview Elementary School, second-grader Leah Markworth’s education is delivered in equal parts Mandarin and English, with regular supplements of Spanish.

    Read more here.

  • Venice, Calif. MI students celebrate the Spring Festival

    Broadway Elementary in Venice Celebrates Chinese New Year

    Students in the Mandarin Immersion Program at Broadway Elementary in Venice celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

    (A tip o’ the pen to Patch, AOL’s local news organization. They’re doing some of the best local coverage of immersion programs nationwide. If there is a Patch blog in your area, I encourage you to reach out to them about your Mandarin immersion school. They seem to be the only ones who realize this is a true national trend. -Beth)

    • January 24, 2012
    First-grade Broadway Mandarin Immersion students celebrate the Year of the Dragon on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. Credit Courtesy of Erika Beck

    Students enrolled in the Mandarin Immersion Program at Broadway Elementary School in Venice celebrated Chinese New Year on Tuesday. An assembly was held on the playground and featured students enrolled in the largest Los Angeles Unified School District Mandarin Immersion Program on the Westside.

    Please read more here.