MEDIA NOTE: This press release was issued by City Terrace School in Los Angeles. For more about Cal State L.A.’s role in this Mandarin-English immersion program, check with Dr. Gay Yuen, (323) 343-4363, gyuen@calstatela.edu. She is a professor of language and literacy in the Charter College of Education at Cal State L.A., and she also directs the University’s Pacific Rim Institute, which is involved in the program.
Mandarin Chinese-English
Dual-Immersion Program Offered
for the first time in the
Los Angeles Unified School District
Within walking distance, in step
with Cal State L.A.’s Pacific Rim Institute
Los Angeles, CA – March 19, 2007 – City Terrace School is now accepting applications for a Mandarin Chinese-English Dual Immersion education program beginning in the 2007-2008 school year. This is the first and currently the only dual Mandarin-English instruction being offered in the Los Angeles Unified School District. City Terrace School is an elementary school with rising test scores and a high API of 725.
The program will start in Kindergarten for the 2007-2008 school year, on a full-day schedule. An additional grade level will be added each subsequent year until the 5th grade. Chinese speaking and English proficient children will be the first to participate in such a program at LAUSD. Limited seats are available, with participation in the program expected to be very competitive.
Students will be instructed 50% of the day in English with Open Court Reading, with full access to and instruction in the core English curriculum. Students will learn all of the sounds, spellings and writing in English. The other half of the day will comprise Mandarin instruction in speaking, reading and writing. Mandarin writing instruction will be based on traditional characters.
City Terrace School is collaborating closely with the Pacific Rim Institute of California State University, Los Angeles, directed by Dr. Gay Yuen, and the Asian Pacific and Other Language Office (APOLO) of Los Angeles Unified School District. City Terrace School is within walking distance of the campus of California State University, Los Angeles.
Intra-district permits and permits for students outside LAUSD will be available, making this program a possibility for all eligible children regardless of their area of residence. Childcare is available for participating students until 6:00 PM every school day through the District's Youth Services Program.
In order to submit an application, the child must be aged 4.5 to 5.5 in September 2007, and be an English proficient speaker, a Mandarin speaker or be from a Mandarin Chinese speaking home.
The application of interest should contain the following: name of child, child’s language proficiency, name and address of parent/guardian, telephone number, email address and statement of interest in having the student participate in the program. Applications of interest may be submitted via facsimile, email or postal mail. There will be an orientation meeting upon receipt of applications of interest, tentatively scheduled for April 2007. After a subsequent review of applications of interest, interviews will be conducted with selected candidates. Applications are due by April 13, 2007. Parents will be notified of final selection after interviews have been completed.
The Dual Mandarin Chinese-English Program at City Terrace School will provide students with the opportunity to develop linguistic skills in both English and Mandarin Chinese, both important for competing globally in the job market and the world economy. This program builds upon the vision of Superintendent David L. Brewer III to provide students in the Los Angeles Unified School District a world-class education.
For more about City Terrace School, contact Christopher K. Ortiz at (323) 269-0581.
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 190,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, to be housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center now under construction. www.calstatela.edu
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