Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Portland Ore., home to a storied Mandarin program, may get French too

    After a lengthy public hearing and discussion Monday, the Portland school board is poised to decide Thursday whether to approve the metro area’s first public French immersion school.

    Backers of the proposed Le Monde Public Charter School want to open a 400-student full immersion French language school in Southwest Portland next fall. They would start with kindergarten and first grade, and all teaching would be in French except a short daily English language lesson for the first-graders, organizers say.

    As a charter school, it would be free to students and open to children from any area school district, with students chosen by lottery if more apply than there are seats available.

    Seattle and Eugene have public schools that offer French immersion, but Portland, with a large and active Francophile community, does not, said Linda Witt, director of the nonprofit Alliance Francaise of Portland, which offers continuing education in French to local adults.

    Please read more here.

  • New Jersey charter Mandarin program inches closer

    Hua Mei Charter School Makes First Cut in Latest Review

    Proposed charter school would draw students from West Orange

    Charter schools are inching ever closer to West Orange. The charter school application for Hua Mei, a Mandarin-immersion school that would draw students from West Orange, is one step closer to being approved, according to NJ Spotlight.

    Hua Mei is one of 17 proposed charter schools in New Jersey that is still in the running, according to Gov. Chris Christie. So far, more than half of the 42 charter school applications have been rejected.

    If approved, Hua Mei would be housed in the St. Joseph’s RC Church on Prospect Avenue in Maplewood and draw students from South Orange-Maplewood and West Orange.

    Superintendent of Schools Dr. Anthony Cavanna said Hua Mei would would drain money from school district.

    “If students from West Orange want to attend the charter school, the district has to pay a 90 percent per pupil expenditure to the charter school and it will add to the budget,” he said at Monday’s board of education meeting.

    Please read more here.

  • 58 Kindergarteners sign up for Mandarin immersion in Orange County

    58 Kindergartners Apply to Learn Chinese

    An early enrollment period nets nearly five dozen signups for for the county’s first public Mandarin Chinese immersion program, scheduled to start next fall in Capo Unified.

    Fifty-eight kindergartners signed up for the county’s first public-school Mandarin Chinese immersion program during an extra-early enrollment period, the Capistrano Unified School District announced Monday.

    The school district offered an uncharacteristically early application period between Dec. 1 and Dec. 9.

    Thalia Tong, one of the parents leading the effort to start the program, reacted to the news: “That’s exciting. I have mixed emotions, though, because I want everybody to get in. It’s definitely a great start.”

    The 58 applicants do not include any transfers from other school districts, said CUSD spokesman Marcus Walton.

    Please read more here.

  • Orange Co. applications now being accepted for Mandarin immersion

    Applications Being Accepted for Mandarin-Immersion Program
    by Jonathan Volzke
    Dec 10, 2011 | 192 views | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend | print

    The early application period is underway for the county’s only public-school Mandarin immersion program.

    The early application period will allow advocates a full semester to fundraise and establish support for the new program, which will be housed at Marian Bergeson Elementary School in Laguna Niguel. More than 160 families have expressed interest in the program.

    The Open Enrollment period runs through Friday, December 9. A second opportunity to apply for a spot in a second kindergarten or a first grade class will take place from February 1–10. Applications can be picked up and dropped off between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on days school is in session at Marian Bergeson Elementary School, 25302 Rancho Niguel Road.

    Read more: Dana Point Times – Applications Being Accepted for Mandarin Immersion Program

  • China’s Xinhua news agency on immersion in Los Angeles

    California public kindergarten focuses on Chinese language instruction
    English.news.cn   2011-12-10 10:08:36
    by George Bao, Xue Ying

    LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) — Robert Icart is an African American who has never been to China, but he decided to send his 5-year-old son to a public school which conducts 90 percent of its teaching in Chinese in its kindergarten classes.

    “Here in the United States when I go shopping, I find most of the products are made in China, that shows me the importance of China and that has also encouraged me to send my son, Justyce, to the Eugene Field Elementary School,” Icart said.

    Eugene Field Elementary School is the only public school at the Pasadena Unified School District in Los Angeles Country of California that offers Chinese-English bilingual immersion programs.

    In its kindergarten, 90 percent of the teaching is in Chinese and 10 percent in English, and in the first grade, 80 percent in Chinese and 20 percent in English, while in the second grade 70 percent in Chinese and 30 percent in English.

    Now in its third year, this program has 4 classes and 110 students. The second grade is currently its highest level. As students progress through grade levels, they will ultimately reach a 50-50 split of the two languages they use in class by fifth grade.

    Icart, whose parents were from Haiti and wife from Mexico, runs a basketball training institute which helps talented student athletes to get into colleges and universities including those of the Ivy League. He is now trying to prepare his son for his life success in a globalized world with China as a more and more important player.

    “After looking into the economy and where it headed for, I found that Mandarin is going to be the most important language, not English,” said Icart, who sent Justyce to a language learning center to learn Mardarin when he was four. The family originally enrolled Justyce in another school but changed their mind one week before it started after they learnt about the immersion program of Eugene Field Elementary.

    Please read more here.

  • Want a job? Learn Mandarin

     

    Brain drain reverses course, flows away from America

     

    By Chris Taylor, Reuters

    NEW YORK — Derek Capo was living the high life. He was in his early 20s, an analyst at hedge fund Everest Capital monitoring international equities, and soaking up the weather and nightlife of his hometown of Miami.

    But looking ahead, as he’d been trained to do, Capo didn’t like what he saw. The housing bust was starting to strangle the Florida economy, the stock market was looking increasingly erratic and he didn’t want to pursue a pricey MBA in the middle of an economic crisis.

    He also wanted to test his entrepreneurial muscles, by starting his own business, ideally in a locale that felt economically vibrant, with seemingly limitless possibilities. To do that, Capo left the U.S. in 2007.

    He now lives in Beijing, having founded Next Step China. The firm offers Chinese-language immersion programs, and arranges opportunities for foreigners to teach, intern or volunteer in China. “I wanted to take the next step in my life and career,” says Capo, now 29. “I connected the dots and decided that I should go somewhere different and learn something new, like Mandarin, to challenge myself. I picked China because it was growing so fast.”

    It’s a curious phenomenon that sends Americans abroad to look for work. The U.S. has traditionally skimmed the best minds from around the world in pursuit of the American Dream. Indeed, according to polling firm Gallup, which surveyed people in 135 nations around the world, the U.S. was the top desired destination of those who wanted to relocate permanently to another country.

    But with unemployment hovering around 9 percent, the use of food stamps at record highs and the Great Recession continuing to punish the budgets of so many families, the American economy is much less of a magnet. To some young entrepreneurs, economic possibilities seem brighter in places like Brazil, Russia, China or Latin America. Indeed, the State Department now estimates that 6.3 million Americans are studying or working abroad, the highest number on record.

    Please read more here.

  • Mandarin immersion meeting in Lake Forest, IL Jan. 12

    Elementary Students Present Holiday Shows

    Parents can attend Mandarin Immersion Kindergarten program meeting in January.

    Everett School’s Winter Concert will be held Dec. 9 in the school gym. The 9 a.m. performance will be for morning Kindergarten, second and fourth grade. The 1:15 p.m. performance will be for Kindergarten (Petesch and Simala), first and third grade. Sheridan School’s annual Winter Sing will be held Dec. 9. The 9:30 a.m. performance is for morning pre-school, Kindergarten, first and third grades, and the 1:30 p.m. show for pre-school, second and fourth grades. Sheridan Strings and Mallet Sharks will perform at both sessions. Cherokee School’s Winter Sing is set for Dec. 16. The 9:30 a.m. show will feature students in two Kindergarten classes, second and fourth graders, and the fourth grade orchestra. The 1:30 p.m. show will feature students in two Kindergarten classes, and first and third graders. More information is available on the Cherokee website: http://www.lf67.org/schools/cherokee/ch_index.html

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    There will be a Parent Information Meeting regarding the 2012-2013 District 67 Mandarin Immersion Kindergarten Program at 9 a.m. Jan. 12 at Cherokee School. This meeting is open to parents whose children will be eligible to enroll in Kindergarten at District 67 for the next school year. Kindergarten registration will begin after Winter Break. Children must be 5 years old on, or before, Sept. 1, and live within the District 67 school boundaries to enroll. Parents planning on enrolling their children at one of the Lake Forest District 67 primary schools should notify their neighborhood school to obtain a registration packet. Residents unsure of their school boundaries or who have questions may call any of the following primary schools: Cherokee School, 475 E. Cherokee Road, (847) 234-3805; Everett School, 1111 Everett School Road, (847) 234-5713; Sheridan School, 1360 N. Sheridan Road, (847) 234-1160. For more information, visit the district website: http://www.lf67.org/district/about/registration.html.

     

    Read more here.