This is big, big news. Oregon will have another Mandarin immersion program. Its first, I think, Mandarin charter school. From the Oregonian article “Beaverton School Board approves Oregon Hopes Chinese Charter School and a $1 local option levy” by Wendy Owen (here):
The Beaverton School District opened its doors to its second charter school Monday night, approving Oregon Hope Chinese Charter School to start next fall, but the founders still have several "weaknesses" to address.
The board unanimously approved the Chinese language immersion school with a written requirement that lingering concerns, such as more details on instructional methods, teacher training and fundraising, be addressed by Nov. 15. The school will join Arco Iris, a Spanish immersion charter school, which opened last year.
Oregon Hope, which already offers Chinese immersion classes on Saturdays at Stoller Middle School for 190 students, would start a school for children grades K-8. The charter school, which is supported by parents, many from Intel, with family and work connections to China, would be modeled on a Chinese immersion program at Woodstock Elementary in Portland.
And:
Hard work and diligence paid off for the school founders, who were told in April that they needed to revamp their application to prove the school would be viable. Working with Beaverton district staff, who specialize in instruction and learning, the group completely revised the more than 100-page document.
There was no shortage of parents to remind the district about the importance of teaching children Chinese in the global economy. Several parents talked about being handicapped in their own businesses because they don't speak Chinese and haven't been able to master the difficult language. But they believe it is essential
for their own children to be bilingual.
"China is our biggest customer in Oregon," said parent Dwayne Boyce. "The U.S. is the biggest customer to China."
This is, by my count, the third public Mandarin immersion program in Oregon. Portland Public Schools has the oldest at Woodstock Elementary that takes 60 new students (two classes) per year (It could and should take more). Lake Oswego School District has also just started a Mandarin
immersion program (I'd guess one class of 25-30) . So this is a significant percentage expansion of public Mandarin immersion in Oregon.
Congratulations to the Beaverton School Board and administration for their vision and willingness to work with the applicants. And especially, congratulations to the founders, parents and supporters who persevered in this effort to create a Mandarin immersion program in Beaverton. They understand, better than most of our leaders, the world our next generations will need to compete in.