Chinese Immersion Program Ben Franklin Elementary School
5206 Franklin St.
Vancouver, WA 98663
See how much they have learned! September 2009
Kindergarten students experience their first day in the Chinese Immersion Program.
June 2010
Ten months later, students perform a play, reciting their lines in Chinese.
The Chinese Immersion Program
Vancouver Public School's new Chinese Immersion Program began in the fall of 2009 for students entering kindergarten. The Chinese Immersion Program is an academically challenging and enriching program for developing linguistic proficiency in Mandarin Chinese and English. This year the program is a full-day, tuition-based kindergarten. Grade levels will be added each year as students progress through elementary school. There will be no tuition beyond kindergarten. Located at Ben Franklin Elementary School, the program is open to students throughout Vancouver Public Schools.
The 90/10 instructional model
At the kindergarten level, approximately 90 percent of instruction will be in Mandarin and 10 percent in English to facilitate early Mandarin Chinese language acquisition and literacy development.
As students transition to high grades, more of the instruction shifts to English, so that by the 5th-grade, there will be 50/50 Mandarin/English instruction. This allows students to eventually achieve high levels of proficiency in Mandarin while at the same time performing at or above grade level on standardized tests taken in English.
Program goals
Our goal is to help our students to:
Obtain high levels of achievement in all academic subjects, including English Language Arts
Be able to speak, read, and write in Mandarin Chinese appropriate to their age level and instruction model
Expand their world view in order to know more and to know differently
Perform well on standardized tests
Parent participation and commitment
To ensure achievement and success, it is necessary for families to commit to the program for six years (K-5). Active parent support is extremely important to the long-term success of our Chinese Immersion Program. Program benefits are achieved when students remain in the program for the duration. Involvement in the classrooms, helping your child with homework, attending parent workshops, and providing feedback increases the likelihood of student success.
Benefits of a Chinese Immersion Program Students have the opportunity to achieve bilingualism and biliteracy in Mandarin and English. Students learn languages more easily at an early age. Immersing and instructing students in the second language provides an effective vehicle for students to learn to speak, read and write fluently in both languages by fifth grade.
Bilingual students generally demonstrate greater academic gains.
Research shows that students in dual language programs develop strong academic skills in addition to becoming proficient in both languages.
Students develop cultural literacy as well as enhanced cognitive skills.
Language immersion students benefit from the ability to communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds while at the same time experiencing academic achievement at or above their single-language peers. Research covering more than 40 years of language immersion instruction shows that students receive a variety of cognitive benefits as well.
Student selection
Franklin students have the first priority for openings in the program. Students from outside the Franklin boundaries will be accepted on a space-available basis according to district policy on boundary exceptions.
Parent Information Nights Information about the philosophy and design of the Chinese Immersion Program is presented at Parent Information Nights held at Ben Franklin Elementary School. Parents need only to attend one session.
Parent Information Night Schedule (Information is provided for the 2010-11 school year.) All meetings are scheduled 6 to 7 p.m. March 16, 2010 April 20, 2010 May 11, 2010
Full-day kindergarten tuition
Tuition cost of full-day program is $2,900 (non-refundable)
Options for tuition payment:
- Full tuition payment at time of acceptance
- Payment plan dates and amounts to be announced
