West County Mandarin and dual immersion

Hi! My child is in Kindergarten at WCMS. We do not speak Mandarin at home but I'm not worried about her ability to continue to learn. There are computer programs and shows and other ways to enrich her learning but ultimately they also don't expect anyone to speak Mandarin going in so I anticipate the school to continue to teach at a pace that allows the kids to keep learning as they get older. My understanding is that Pinole High has a Mandarin and/or an IB program so I suspect that most kids who go through WCMS will go to Pinole High if they want to continue with that type of program. Next year it will only be K-5 but will add a grade each year. I highly recommend you attend one of the info sessions coming up - they will answer these questions in more depth. We love the school so far though so I highly recommend!  https://wcmspta.org/tours/ 

I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader attending West County Mandarin School, and we don't speak Mandarin at home. It's 50-50 English and Mandarin for all grades. (Prior to 2020, the school was 90% Mandarin in Kindergarten, 70% Mandarin in 1st grade, and 50% Mandarin in 2nd grade and beyond.) My 4th grader has had no problem picking up Mandarin and is one of the more advanced kids in his grade in speaking and reading even though we don't speak Mandarin at home. My first grader started with the 50-50 model, and I can tell that he speaks less Mandarin than my elder child at the same age, but he still enjoys learning it and has no problems with his assignments in class or at home. He also did Kindergarten with distance learning because of the pandemic, so I think he and his peers are all in a similar situation. Will my kids be as fluent as a native Chinese family that speaks and reads Mandarin at home? Probably not, but I also don't think that's the goal. They will be very conversational in Mandarin, gain the executive function brain benefits of being bilingual, and have a cultural understanding of how to be a global citizen and a global thinker. I believe there's a lot to be learned in an environment that teaches about different world cultures. The school is an International Baccalaureate school, and it is also very diverse both socio-economically and ethnically. I love that my kids are surrounded by kids that represent the world in which we live. The homework is provided in such a way that parents do not need to understand Mandarin to help the kids complete it.  For the 2022-2023 school year, WCMS will be a K-5 school, adding a grade each year. The elementary school will be K-6, while the Mandarin program will continue into Pinole Middle School for grades 7 and 8. The eventual plan is to have higher-level Mandarin classes available at Pinole Valley High School, which is also an IB school. We are hoping that higher-level Mandarin classes will be available at other District high schools, but I don't believe there is currently a plan in place. I recommend attending a virtual enrollment information session to get more information and have your questions answered by the principal and/or a current parent. You can sign up at http://wcmspta.org/tours. We love the school and highly recommend it!