How did Mandarin Immersion begin in the San Francisco Public Schools?
Mandarin Immersion in the San Francisco Public Schools got its start in January of 2005 when a small groups of parents and community members petitioned the San Francisco School District to start a Mandarin immersion program. A similar suggestion had been made 1994, but Proposition 227, an anti-bilingual measure, had just been passed so the timing was poor. But in 2005 the District was ready. Parents for Public Schools (www.ppssf.org) began holding Mandarin Immersion meetings for interested parties. By 2006 the District had decided to begin a Mandarin Immersion program in the 2006-2007 school year.
Mandarin Immersion in the San Francisco Public Schools got its start in January of 2005 when a small group of parents and community members petitioned the San Francisco School District to start a Mandarin immersion program. A similar suggestion had been made in 1994, but Proposition 227, an anti-bilingual measure, had just been passed so the timing was poor. But in 2005 the District was ready. Parents for Public Schools (www.ppssf.org) began holding Mandarin Immersion meetings for interested parties. By 2006 the District had decided to begin a Mandarin Immersion program in the 2006-2007 school year. Working with parents and community members, the District began the process of identifying possible sites. These needed to meet several criteria, with the major one having to be a school with enough empty classrooms to accommodate 12 new classes. A program with two Kindergarten classes required a school that could accommodate 240 additional students. That meant finding a school that was seve
