I think the MPCSD has other things they should be spending their money on, such as teacher salaries, school books, school supplies and equipment, school programs and things that would benefit ALL students in the District. If people want to learn Mandarin, there are many resources in the community that can provide this service.

See reader comments and resource information in the 10/27 online edition of the Almanac News: Web Link

To all MMIC parents and proponents:

If you would like your K-8 student to learn Mandarin or experience Mandarin immersion TODAY and cannot wait for MPCSD to properly evaluate a Mandarin Immersion program, I want to make sure you are aware of many Options available in and around the Bay Area:

Global Montessori International School K-5 - globalmontessoriinternationalschool.com
2314 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94704

Shu Ren International School Pre-K-8 - www.shureninternationalschool.com
1333 University Avenue Berkeley, CA 94702-1710

Pacific Rim International School K-12 San Mateo - Web Link
54 Peninsula Ave.San Mateo, CA 94401

Chinese American International School K-8 - Web Link
140 Oak Street San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 865-6000

There are also many public school immersion programs available in Palo Alto, (and now redwood city!), the wider San Mateo County, San Francisco and the East Bay if you choose to move there. Many parents move to a city specifically to have access to the schools, so this seems a reasonable option for a family that would like their children to experience Mandarin Immersion.

The MPCSD is too small to support multiple Immersion programs at this time. The class makeup of MMIC is not going to be representative of our District. We have limited facilities to educate our own exploding district student population, much less additional out-of district students that we are not reimbursed for. Our schools have a number of other high priority programs to administer - including a review of our relatively new Spanish Immersion program.

And while it is not required to start a charter school in Califonia, the original intent of charter schools was to provide choice in low-performing districts (Does this sound like MPCSD?) and "meet the needs of low achieving students." (Will the MMIC serve these students?)

@Options Available Today: Thank you for taking the time to post the information about Bay Area options for learning Mandarin and the Mandarin immersion experience. I hope the MPCSD Board Members and Superintendent see your information.

For anyone wanting to contact the MPCSD Board Members and Superintendent, their individual email addresses are as follows:

BOARD MEMBERS:
jlambert@mpcsd.org
mhilton@mpcsd.org
jchild@mpcsd.org,
shinshaw@mpcsd.org
tthygesen@mpcsd.org

SUPERINTENDENT:
mghysels@mpcsd.org