Dual Immersion Program at Alhambra Unified School District

January 26th, 2016 by Monrovia Weekly

By May S. Ruiz

There has been a sea change in the employment landscape in the past decade as evidenced by shifts in what is available to people looking for work. Some positions that today’s youth would one day fill might not even exist yet, or may be located in foreign countries.

The Alhambra Unified School District (AUSD) has been actively finding opportunities for its student population to be ready for 21^st century job requirements. This fall, AUSD is rolling out its Dual Immersion Program to add to its slate of initiatives to make their students competitive in the global community.

Leading this charge is Jim Schofield, program director. He says, “Dual immersion is critical because future jobs could be in other parts of the globe. More and more, we do business with other countries, and knowledge of the local language is essential. An employee who can speak, read, and write in the dialect is much more valuable to the company.”

Schofield cites research to advance the case for dual immersion, “Although the majority of the world is bilingual, statistics show that only 17 percent of Americans speak another language; 56 percent of Europeans and 36 percent of Brits do. Being bilingual puts one on a higher tier in the American job market.

“Health-wise,” continues Schofield, “it protects one against diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s. A 2012 study conducted by the University of California, San Diego, revealed that of the 44 elderly participants who could speak both Spanish and English, those with higher proficiency in both languages were less likely to have early onset of either disease. While it doesn’t necessarily mean that being bilingual is the magic cure-for-all, it may help keep diseases at bay longer. Besides, it makes for a more enriching cultural experience; and being able to communicate is the best feeling in the world.”

Please read more here.

A bilingual mom’s got a nice blog series going about about building up a Chinese library for her bilingual kids. Note that she’s from Taiwan and is only talking about books in traditional characters. This won’t be helpful to folks with kids in programs that teach simplified, which are the majority in the U.S. But even so it’s a nice overview of some of the issues and gives you some insight into what’s available and what to look for.

Parents in Fremont have been pushing  for several years now to insure that their program continues through junior high school. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the school and speaking with parents there and I know how hard they’ve been working on this. Thankfully, their school district has agreed. Congrats to Fremont!

You can read the district’s full statement here. The important points are these:

• The Board accepted CIPCF’s recommendation to include two core Mandarin classes for all immersion students from day 1, rather than starting with only one core class in the first year (provided there are a minimum of 15 students for the class).
• Provide an optional 7th period as either a 0 period (proposed) or 7 period (board member suggestion) to immersion students so they can still take an elective class like other students.
• The staff recommended Hopkins Junior High in the Mission San Jose attendance area to host the programs.
• Spanish Immersion Program Jr. High starts in fall 2016 and Mandarin in fall 2017– all current Mandarin students will have the opportunity to continue to Junior High.

It’s great news that the students will have the possibility of an additional period so they can take an elective class. In many programs, including San Francisco’s Aptos Middle School, Mandarin is students’ elective, so they can’t take band or theater or other electives that their non-immersion peers are able to.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

Spanish and Mandarin immersion classes to be offered in Fremont junior high schools

Spanish and Mandarin immersion programs will be rolled out to junior high schools over the next three years, the Fremont Unified School District’s Board of Education has decided.

The school board voted unanimously Oct. 28 to expand the popular immersion programs that currently are taught at elementary schools.

At that meeting, parents extolled the benefits of extending dual immersion to junior high schools.

Some parents said they’d like to see the Spanish immersion program made more challenging and asked that the district do a better job of communicating the program’s expectations and goals.

One Fremont student addressed the board in Chinese as board Trustee Yang Shao translated.

Please read more here.

Plymouth Elementary School’s Mandarin Dual Immersion Program Helps Parents Too

November 17th, 2015 by Monrovia Weekly

By Terry Miller

Plymouth School in Monrovia has implemented a first of its kind in the district – a dual immersion program for students to learn Mandarin. In fact the school is on the cusp of what will, perhaps, become a trend in all public schools in California with the general uptick in Asian-American population in Los Angeles County.

Please read more here.

By Linda Borg

• Journal Staff Writer

  Posted Dec. 10, 2015 at 11:04 AM

  PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Providence schools will offer two Spanish-English and Mandarin Chinese-English immersion programs (pending sufficient demand) at the Carl Lauro Elementary School in the 2016-2017 school year.

  This will expand the dual language immersion program at the Leviton Dual Language School.

  In dual language immersion, students starting in kindergarten receive instruction in two languages so they can become fluent and read in both languages by the time they finish 5th grade.

  “In an increasingly interconnected and globalized world, being able to understand, speak, read and write in a second language is a critical 21st century skill,” said Providence Schools Supt. Christopher Maher. “That’s why we are thrilled to be expanding our dual language immersion offerings to Carl Lauro Elementary, and encourage parents enrolling their kindergartners for next school year to apply for this great program.”

  Please read more here.