Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • After a decade of trying, Massachusetts Mandarin immersion school can expand

    The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted this week to allow Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter, in Hadley Massachusetts, to expand by 100 more students. The hugely popular school has been trying to expand since 2015 to accommodate all the families who want to attend.

    Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter set for expansion after close vote on Tuesday

    Daily Hampshire Gazette

    By SCOTT MERZBACH, Feb. 25, 2025

    HADLEY — Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School’s enrollment can increase by 100 students after the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Tuesday narrowly supported acting Commissioner Russell D. Johnston’s recommendation allowing the K-12 school to have up to 684 students.

    In approving the enrollment increase by a 6-4 vote, the board also set several conditions as part of the school’s charter amendment, including requiring that the PVCICS board of trustees engage in a comprehensive self-evaluation of its capacity and expertise; that the board of trustees engage in training, conducted by an external consultant, on the roles and responsibilities of a board of trustees of a charter school; and that the board of trustees submit a plan to implement a cost-effective regional transportation plan eligible for state reimbursement.

    Please read more here.

  • How Schools Can Expand Dual-Language Immersion Programs

    Education Week

    By Ileana Najarro — February 12, 2025  

    Former U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona championed multilingualism for all students, as well as improved programming for the nation’s English learners.

    One of the last major projects he oversaw in his tenure at the U.S. Department of Education was the office of English language acquisition’s dual-language immersion project: a publication of four playbooks with detailed guidance for educators on how to establish and sustain dual-language immersion programs.

    What these programs look like can vary across the country but typically, a dual-language immersion program covers kindergarten through 5th grade and students learn academic content while also receiving language instruction in both English and a partner language—often Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or French.

    Please read more here.

  • Building bridges with immersion in Minnesota

    Beyond the 3 Rs: Building international bridges

    From: The Pioneer Press February 8, 2025

    Schools place priority on making global connections

    Editor’s Note: This continues a series about the reinvention of local public schools in the 21st century. The stories focus on how technology, globalism and government intervention have changed School District 112 and Minnetonka School District.

    By Forrest Adams

    A team of student teachers from Chile is teaching in Minnetonka schools this spring.

    A total of 18 students from abroad are spending their school year in the Minnetonka School District, and last week, a group of students from the Netherlands and China spent time in Minnetonka on a short-term exchange.

    In December, students and staff from District 112 traveled to China to forge ties with educators and students there.

    Living in an age of global markets and social networking, the increased interaction between educators and students in countries separated by thousands of miles is increasing. Technology, now widely available, coupled with the ease of travel, has enhanced what used to be an occasional pen-pal letter with a “friend” overseas.

    Please read more here.

  • Atlanta International School adds boarding option

    Atlanta International School (AIS)’s upcoming recruiting trip to China is just one of the institution’s efforts to extend its multilingual, culturally diverse academic experience to families at home and abroad.  

    AIS’s student body is a blend of about half expatriate families and half locals living in the Atlanta area. But in 2025, thanks to the school’s new boarding program on its Sandy Springs campus, students from around the world will be coming to live and study. 

    Please read more here.

  • Happy Year of the Snake`

    January 29 is the lunar New Year and a happy Year of the Snake or Year of the Serpent to all those born under that sign.

    Although we might have bad associations with snakes, in the Chinese zodiac they are linked to wisdom, charm, elegance, and transformation and people born in the Year of the Snake are thought to be intuitive, strategic, and intelligent.

    If you’d like a very deep dive into that zodiac info about this year (It’s the near of the wood snake) you can read all about it here.

    But mostly the lunar New Year (also known as the spring festival) is a time to eat good food and visit with friends and family. Here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy and good new year.

    And if you want to celebrate like they do in China, you’ll not only have a great meal with family but you’ll watch the totally over-the-top annual Spring Festival Gala, which is kind of a mix between our New Year’s shows and the old variety shows many of us grew up with, with a sprinkling of the old Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon.

    Though you might have to search around a bit online or on your cable/subscriptions to find it.

  • First full class of Minnesota’s Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy graduates high school

    From: The Pioneer Press June 2024

    Brouke Brookins couldn’t understand a word his teacher was saying on his first day of kindergarten at Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion Academy.

    “We were sitting on the carpet in a circle, all of us, and the teacher walked over and just started speaking another language,” he said. “I remember looking left and right, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what she’s saying. I don’t know if she’s greeting us or what.’”

    The same thing happened the next day, and the day after that.

    It took several months before Brookins, a member of the first class to complete St. Paul Public Schools’ full K-12 Mandarin-immersion program, finally began to comprehend some words in Mandarin — at school and in his dreams.

    “I started dreaming in Chinese, and that’s when I realized, ‘Oh, I know this,’ and the next day at school, all of us were, like, understanding the teacher,” he said. “It started like that. First, we understood what she was saying, but we could not quite speak it yet, and then we transitioned from just understanding what she was saying to us to actually being able to speak it and communicate with each other outside of just talking to the teacher in the class setting.”

    Please read more here.

  • Baltimore gets Mandarin immersion charter – “Being Bilingual is a Superpower” says website

    The Bilingual Global Citizens Public Charter School will open in September of 2025. Note that there’s also a Washington D.C.-based Global Citizens Public Charter School, which offers Mandarin and Spanish, which opened in 2023.

    Despite tough standards and barriers, Baltimore County is approved for its second charter school

    WYPR Baltimore, April 2024

    Baltimore County residents will gain a new language-immersion charter school in September 2025, becoming only the second charter option in the district — and the first to open since 2019.

    On Tuesday night, county school board members unanimously voted to approve the application for Bilingual Global Citizens Public Charter School. The school will offer instruction half in English and half in French or Chinese starting with kindergarten through third grade, and adding a grade each year until they enroll eighth graders.

    Please read more here.

    Other articles here, here and here

    Here’s the school’s website. And here’s what they say about the program:

    The Bilingual Global Citizens Public Charter School offers a Balanced Dual Language Immersion Program, providing students with a 50/50 split between instruction in Chinese or French and English. Starting in kindergarten and continuing through fifth grade, students are fully immersed in both languages to develop fluency and literacy. Each day is divided between two dedicated teachers—one for Chinese or French instruction and the other for English—ensuring high-quality, language-specific education throughout students’ formative years.

    The day is divided equally between both languages. The English-speaking teacher focuses on English language arts and other subjects, while the Chinese or French-speaking teacher covers Chinese or French language arts as well as portions of math, social studies, science, and other topics aligned with the Maryland State Core Curriculum. This balanced approach provides students with a well-rounded, bilingual education.

    This K-5 immersion model seamlessly transitions into middle school (grades 6-8), offering a cohesive K-8 immersion experience. The middle school curriculum emphasizes language, literacy, and cultural studies, while preparing students for higher proficiency through alignment with the AP World Language and Culture coursework, setting the foundation for university-level language pathways.