Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Inside Alhambra’s dual immersion programs in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish

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    By: Phoenix Tso

    Alhambra , CA United States

    At the end of October, Fremont Elementary School’s first grade Spanish dual-language immersion class were treated to a special guest.

    Los Angeles Times journalist Esmeralda Bermudez was stopping by to talk about the benefits of teaching children to speak multiple languages at a young age.

    The Salvadoran American reporter grew up speaking English and Spanish and made headlines after writing about a stranger scolding her for speaking Spanish and “confusing the poor girl” in public.

    “One of the best gifts you can give your child — a gift that keeps connection to all generations and keeps your culture — is the gift of teaching your home language,” said Bermudez of what she learned from that experience, according to an Alhambra Unified School District press release.

    Please read more here.

  • Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy in Minn. gets its own building

    Thanks to Jie Ming parent Brian Lam, who emailed to tell me that the school, in addition to gettin g anew building, has also expanded from three Kindergarten classes to four.

    [If you’ve got a story about your Mandarin immersion school, please email me at weise (at) well (dot) com. Let’s get the word out!]

    cst 9987 Jie Ming Mandarin school

     

     

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    Mandarin immersion popular in St. Paul, Minn.

     

    Some 33,000 students and 6,000 employees return to school Tuesday as St. Paul Public Schools continues to build new or renovate old learning spaces across the city.

    Seven elementary schools serving 2,500 kids have wrapped up construction projects and work is ongoing at three other schools.

    “There’s no way you can drive through the city of St. Paul and not see some construction happening for our students,” Chief Operating Officer Jackie Turner said.

    The school board voted in December 2015 to double what it spends on deferred building maintenance, to $60 million a year. At the same time, the district has been updating its schools with more natural light, security and technology upgrades, new playgrounds, more welcoming entryways and early learning classrooms.

    Schools opening Tuesday with major construction behind them include St. Anthony Park, Horace Mann and Highland Park elementary schools and the dual campus preK-8 Linwood-Monroe.

    Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy just moved out of Hamline Elementary and into the Homecroft building in the Highland Park neighborhood. Homecroft had housed the RiverEast therapeutic school but that program has moved to a new building east of Como Park Senior High.

    Construction is ongoing at Adams Spanish Immersion and Humboldt and Como Park high schools.

    Please read more here.

    From The Midway Monitor

    Hamline Elementary’s next chapter

    By JESSICA KOPP
    After five years of sharing a space with Hamline Elementary, Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy will begin the 2018-19 school year in a new space. Hamline Elementary and Jie Ming Principal Bobbie Johnson will move with the program she created to the former Homecroft Elementary building, 1845 Sheridan Ave. We wish her and the whole Jie Ming community all the best in their new home!

    With Johnson’s departure, Hamline Elementary welcomes new leadership to the building— well, kind of new leadership. After three years as Hamline’s Assistant Principal, Kristin Reilly will become Hamline’s new principal and Jamal Abdur-Salaam will join our community from John A. Johnson Elementary as Assistant Principal. We’re fortunate to have these talented and experienced leaders guiding Hamline’s next chapter.

    Please read more.

     

    It’s been in the works for a long time…

     

    Jie Ming’s move to Highland Park pushed back a year

    From: The Star-Tribune
    By Anthony Lonetree
    NOVEMBER 3, 2016

    Two St. Paul schools that were slated to have new homes next fall now are expected to stay in their current buildings for at least another year.

    Tom Parent, the district’s facilities director, told the school board this week that complications in talks involving one of the school sites will require pushing back the proposed relocations of Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy and RiverEast Elementary and Secondary to the 2018-19 school year.

    The district is planning to move RiverEast from Highland Park to a former industrial site on the North End, and to relocate Jie Ming from the Hamline-Midway area to the current RiverEast building.

    First, however, the district must negotiate the removal of a deed restriction that bars nonindustrial uses on the North End site, and that has taken longer than expected, Parent said.

    Please read more here.

  • A capstone Mandarin immersion program for students whose high schools don’t have them

    Granted, it’s pricey. But it sounds very good. And Gregg Roberts, who oversaw immersion programs in the state of Utah, is now working with them. That, to me is, the golden seal of approval.

    I talked to Gregg and he agreed that it would make sense for students who take college Chinese as part of their  program — for example in  San Francisco students can take Chinese at City College — won’t be held to the AP requirement.

    DLI Info Sheet Page 1DLI Info Sheet Page 2

  • Mandarin immersion students start hitting college – good thing ensue.

    From: The Lake Forest Times

    By Cam Hedlund

     

    Lakes International Language Academy, the PreK-12 public charter school in Forest Lake, set out in 2004 with a mission to prepare students to become critical thinkers and global citizens. We integrated the renowned International Baccalaureate curriculum across our program from the start and emphasized second-language acquisition, believing that bilingualism and biliteracy are essential tools for 21st-century learners.

    We’ve begun to hear back from some of our first students as they’re attending college and exploring the world. They tell us how speaking a second language and the inquiry-based IB curriculum have already led them to exciting opportunities. As educators, we’re thrilled to know that LILA’s academic combination has supported so many of our students as they’ve pursued study-abroad programs, taking classes in Spanish or Mandarin and learning about their host cultures. 

    For example, Anna Sherman, a former LILA Spanish-program student, spent a year of high school in Beijing, China, on a U.S. State Department National Security Language Initiative scholarship. Proficient in three languages now, Anna is enrolled in the Chinese Flagship Program at the University of Minnesota and double-majoring in Asian Languages and Global Studies.

    Please read more here.

  • NanHai books closing in Northern California

    For many of us with children in Chinese immersion programs in the San Francisco area, NanHai was our go-to bookstore for Chinese books, available in both traditional and simplified characters. Over time, catalog and then online sales made the pleasant trip down to the store less necessary. Clearly we weren’t the only ones. Sad to see them go, but glad that their reading program will continue.

    • Beth
    NanHai Books is Saying Goodbye,
    iChineseReader is Saying Hi
    Dear valued customers,
    We are here announcing the termination of our distribution business of all print editions of Chinese language education resources we carry.
    Established 25 years ago in 1993 in anticipation of the forthcoming tsunamic upsurge of Chinese language education in the US, Nan Hai Books has witnessed the glorious path of growth of US Chinese education from virtually non-existent in primary and secondary schools and an insignificant minor of the less commonly taught languages in colleges into one of the most popular foreign languages included in both SAT II and AP Tests. At the same time, Nan Hai Books has grown from a local bookstore into the biggest Chinese Language education resources center in the nation.
    In the current digital and AI age, Chinese language education is confronted with similar tsunamic challenges and opportunities as it was 25 years ago. While terminating our distribution of print books, we are transforming into a digital content publisher and solution provider.
    We apologize for all the inconveniences this may cause you and appreciate your support all along! We also expect your continued support and join hands with us in blazing a successful new trail in this new age!
    For more info, please contact us: 408-380-8088.
    追求卓越，我们永不止步。
    iChineseEdu团队将倾力打造iChineseReader——最好的中文分级在线阅读平台。
    iChineseReader专注服务于中文作为第二语言教学。它以中文阅读为本，以科学分级为纲，为全球中小学（K-12） 所有类型的中文项目提供量体裁衣的在线中文阅读文本。平台目前有20个级别的3000多本互动性读物，且长期保持每周上新的节奏！

    iChineseReader

  • Riverside, CA school board rejects charter school that would teach in Mandarin and English

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    The refusal by the Riverside School Board is interesting in that it says “the plan to require students older than second grade to demonstrate grade-level proficiency in Mandarin would likely cause the school to fail the state’s requirement that a charter school match the ethnic makeup of the district where it’s located district because few non-Asian students have that proficiency.”

    That would effectively mean no language immersion charter schools are possible in the entire state of California if they have language requirements past first grade — something common to all immersion programs in the state I’m familiar with. I’m curious if that rational has been used to block other immersion charters.

    – Beth

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    Despite one rejection, the creator of a proposed charter school that would have taught students in English and Mandarin is already planning his next step.

    Michael Scott, a Riverside educator who helps teach classroom strategies in China, said he will appeal to the Riverside County Board of Education, asking it to consider his charter school petition after the Riverside Unified School District board unanimously rejected it Nov. 5. State lawgives 180 days from a rejection for that appeal to be heard.

    The Riverside school board denied Scott’s proposal for Western Mandarin Immersion Charter School on the advice of a team of administrators.

    The petition didn’t include an adequate plan for English learners or special education students, nor did the proposal demonstrate that it had sufficient interest from potential students to be financially viable, district officials said.

    And the plan to require students older than second grade to demonstrate grade-level proficiency in Mandarin would likely cause the school to fail the state’s requirement that a charter school match the ethnic makeup of the district where it’s located district because few non-Asian students have that proficiency, the district’s report concludes.

    Please read more here.

  • New York’s Hudson Way Immersion School expands to 8th grade

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    Hudson Way is actually the only private Mandarin immersion program in New York. While there are multiple other private schools that make that claim, Hudson Way is the only one that is actually 50/50 Mandarin.
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    From the school:
    We are very excited to announce that in response to rapidly increasing enrollment we have secured a new larger space at 525 W. 52nd St. in time for the 2019-2020 school year.
    This new space, totaling over 20,000 square feet, will be custom built for the school’s use to include state-of-the-art classrooms, office space, a gym, and designated areas for art, music, media and robotics.
    Program Additions in September 2019:
    • Spanish track starting in preschool and kindergarten
    • Mandarin Elementary Track for students starting immersion in Kindergarten or Grade 1
    • Extension of our Mandarin program through grade 6 and eventually grade 8
    This location will have access to the nearly Dewitt-Clinton Park which features outdoor playing fields and playgrounds, a community garden, and an arts theater. It’s also part of a modern, luxury building that has community space for parent events including rooftop views of the Hudson River.
    We are thrilled to share in the excitement of this announcement with our staff, some of whom have been with us since we began our journey in NYC 10 years ago, and with our families who believed us. Your collective commitment to the principles of true immersion have enabled us to develop children who started in preschool and are now in 5th grade achieving skills and knowledge in math, science, and social studies at a high proficiency level in both Mandarin and English higher than we thought possible.  We are excited to see what what the years ahead in this home will bring!

    HWIS is partnering with various organizations to bring a series of events starting Dec – June focused on bilingual culture and education for parents and children.  Look for the schedule and sign up!    

    Also please spread the word about our information sessions designed to help prospective parents  understand the benefits of immersion, and how our program is unique. Learn about our full immersion model, our experienced teachers and administration, and our experience as the oldest Mandarin and Spanish immersion school in NYC.