Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Switching schools, switching states?

    One concern many parents have when starting their child in Mandarin immersion is that they’ll never be able to leave their town, much less their school, without giving up Mandarin.

    But with  literally dozens of Mandarin immersion programs opening up around the country these days, that’s less a problem than it used to be.

    In recent weeks, the MIPC has gotten emails from a family in Seattle thinking of moving to San Francisco and one in Minnesota thinking of moving to Portland. During the summer we heard from folks looking to move to New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

    In San Francisco we’re lucky to have two public programs, Starr King and Jose Ortega, so we have schools to move between within our city, as well as a private option, the Chinese American International School.

    Though we’re also hearing about more movement between private Mandarin immersion schools and public ones, most likely because of the economic downturn. The $20K yearly tuition is less affordable to many families and public options keep popping up.

    At a time when moving for a new job trumps just about every other consideration, what possibilities are families finding out there? How difficult is it to transfer between schools or programs and how has the transition gone? We’d love to hear.

  • Chinese Education Conference April 9 – 11 San Francisco

    The Chinese Education Conference (CEC) is the largest K-16 national conference dedicated to promoting Chinese education in the United States. CEC provides:

    • Best practices and hands-on teaching methods
    • Innovative technology tools and essential resources
    • Networking opportunities for administrators and teachers

    Annually, the CEC brings together a national audience of over 500 teachers, administrators, and community leaders to learn and share the latest information in program development, teaching methodologies, technology, and much more. Attendees will broaden their vision of Chinese education and realize opportunities to develop effective programs.

    CEC topic areas include:

    • Curriculum & Assessment
    • Instructional Strategies & Resources
    • Classroom Technologies
    • Cultural Integration
    • Immersion Programs
    • Foreign Language Programs
    • Enrichment Programs
    • Teacher Preparation & Development

    Click here for more info.

  • National Chinese Language Conference April 22-24 in DC

    National Chinese Language Conference 2010

    The third annual National Chinese Language Conference will be held during April 22–24, 2010, in Washington, DC. With growing interest in fostering students’ global competence, Chinese language and culture programs are expanding quickly across the United States, and indeed the world.

    This conference is dedicated to encouraging dialogue in the field of Chinese language education and ensuring wide-scale success. Join leaders from across K–16 education to share best practices on building high-quality programs, strengthening teacher development, encouraging sustainable partnerships, and more.

    Conference Highlights

    Learning in a Global Context: Hear plans and perspectives from U.S. and Chinese leaders.

    Taking the Next Steps: Learn how to create and sustain high-quality K–12 Chinese language programs. Energize your efforts to expand and improve your Chinese program, obtain valuable resources, and develop new contacts.

    Chinese in Higher Education: Discuss key issues in research, instruction, and teacher preparation.

    China across the Curriculum: Discover new ways to link your Chinese program with the humanities, arts, and sciences. Make the most of available resources to foster students’ global competence.

    Making the Connection: Connect with American and international counterparts; build innovative and effective partnerships.

    Also: Visit schools in the Washington, DC area, and enjoy performances by contemporary Chinese artists.

    Conference registration fees

    For questions related to registration, please contact our registration staff by calling 1-800-787-7477 ext. 2, or e-mail workshopreg@collegeboard.org.

    Check Asia Society’s website for more details regarding this conference.

  • School Closeup: Mandarin Immersion in Portland, Ore.

    By Laurie Bouck, Jose Ortega parent

    In 1998, the Portland, Oregon public school district (PPS) started a Mandarin Immersion program that they planned to run from kindergarten through 12th grade. The PPS already had Japanese and Spanish immersion programs within their school system, and added the Mandarin program at the urging of parents and teachers.

    The PPS program began at the K-5 Woodstock Elementary School, an underenrolled elementary school with space for the program, with a single blended kindergarten/first grade class of 24 students. (Like Ortega and Starr King, Woodstock Elementary also has other non-Mandarin tracks for students.) In 2006, Woodstock increased its number of classes, ultimately serving up to 60 children per grade in kindergarten through third grade.

    As the students progressed through the classes, a middle school program at Portland’s Hosford Middle School and (in 2008) a high school program at Cleveland High School were added to the Mandarin track. In middle and high school, students study in Mandarin for about two hours a day.

    SFUSD’s Program compared to PPS Program

    The Portland program differs from ours in several significant ways. First of all, the Portland program offers instruction in Mandarin for 50% of the class time in grades K-5, while the SFUSD program begins with about 80% instruction in Mandarin at the kindergarten level, decreasing the Mandarin instruction gradually to 50% by the 5th grade. Woodstock also hosts a teacher exchange with its sister school in Suzhou, China, to expand students’ experience of Chinese language and culture.

    In the Portland Public School district, some schools offer free full-day kindergarten, and other schools (including Woodstock) offer only a half-day of free kindergarten. Parents who want full-day kindergarten for their children at the half-day schools must pay a monthly fee to cover the other half-day. Woodstock Elementary’s Mandarin program is a full-day kindergarten program, and to cover the cost parents must pay $335 per month throughout the kindergarten year. Tuition waivers are available for families unable to pay for full-day kindergarten.

    At Woodstock Elementary, the local YMCA provides before and after-school care. There are also a variety of free or fee-based after-school activities, including a chess club, kung fu, and a Mandarin homework club twice a week, run by parent volunteers and teachers.

    Enrichment and Funding

    A two-week trip to China in the 8th grade, for a research project the children work on all year, is funded by grants, fundraising, and family contributions. Inaugurated in 2008, the trip to China caps off their early school experience of the language.

    The parent group Shu Ren of Portland supports the Mandarin program in the Portland public schools. The organization, governed by a board of directors, supports parents with children in the program, supports enrichments such as the eighth-grade trip to China and the homework club, and advocates for the immersion program.

    The Portland Public schools have also partnered with Center for Applied Second Language Studies at the University of Oregon in Eugene to promote Mandarin instruction in grades K-12 and among college undergraduates (grades 13-16). This K-16 Oregon Chinese Flagship Program is funded by the nationwide Language Flagship organization, a partnership between the federal government, businesses, and educational institutions designed to help students learn non-Western languages. The Language Flagship currently sponsors public school language immersion programs in Dearborn, Michigan; Portland, Oregon, and Ohio.

    Challenges of a Mandarin Program

    Portland has encountered many of the same challenges as us. “Our ongoing challenge is securing resource materials and curriculum written in Mandarin that are age-appropriate,” an administrator explained in an email. “Another big challenge that we have met has been in securing teachers” with the appropriate teaching experience and licensing to work in the United States.

    “As we expanded schools,” the administrator wrote, they ran in to obstacles “identifying the school site, establishing feeder pattern, creating a program at the next level that met the instructional requirements for middle and high school levels, and, again, securing staff who had experience at the secondary level and identifying age-appropriate materials.” District-wide, administrators had to work to promote the program within Portland and to clarify “procedures for entry into the [lottery-based] program.”

    The MIPC was  unable to directly contact any parents in the program and welcome their feedback and comments on this profile of Portland’s Mandarin immersion program.

  • Wisconsin to get its first MI program

    The Verona Press

    By Seth Jovaag

    A new charter school that will teach half its classes in Chinese will open in the Verona Area School District in September.

    On a split vote Monday, the Verona Area school board approved a controversial proposal to launch the state’s first Chinese-language charter school.

    The Verona Area International School will be located within Stoner Prairie Elementary School in Fitchburg for at least two years. It will open with one mixed-age class of 22 kids in kindergarten and first grade, with organizers hoping to add 22 more kids in 2011.

    “We’re very thrilled,” said Teresa Mueller, a leader of a group of parents that advocated for the school for months. “We think it will be an asset to the district.”

    To read more, please click here.

  • Vancouver BC suburb to get MI program next year

    Registration set to begin in February for new language program at Forest Grove

    Burnaby Now

    Published: Saturday, January 16, 2010

    The Burnaby school district will offer a Mandarin language arts program at Forest Grove elementary.

    The Mandarin language arts program, which is set to start in September 2010, is an optional course for students in kindergarten and Grade 1, and registration will begin in February.

    Students will study regular core curriculum in English and develop reading and writing skills in simplified Chinese. There will also be a component that celebrates Chinese culture.

    Read more here.

  • Shu Ren International in the East Bay Express

    Learning In Chinese

    Mandarin immersion takes root in Bay Area schools.

    By Luke Tsai

    Kai-Yao To teaches her students at Berkeley’s Shu Ren International School (photo by Hali McGrath)

    On a crisp December afternoon at Berkeley’s Shu Ren International School, eleven squirming five-year-olds are sprawled out on the rug. Kai-Yao To’s kindergarten classroom looks much like any nice kindergarten room — bright, cheerful colors; student art masterpieces in Crayola and felt-tip marker; and an easel where the day’s itinerary is written on chart paper. What sets this classroom apart isn’t especially subtle. Just about everything is written in Chinese, from the morning greeting that Kai Laoshi (“Teacher Kai”) has written out for the students to read aloud together, to the labels underneath pictures of a dreidel and a menorah on the whiteboard. Even at the height of the holiday season, there probably aren’t too many other kindergarten classes learning about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in Mandarin.

    Read the rest of the article  here.