Mandarin Immersion Magnet School

The former Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School (the school vacated this campus before fall 2016)

The Mandarin Immersion Magnet School (MIMS), formerly the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School (MCLIMS) is a magnet primary school located in Houston, Texas. It is a part of the Houston Independent School District. The school's current campus in the St. George Place area of Houston opened in August 2016; it was previously located in the former Maud Gordon Elementary School in Bellaire, Texas.[1]

Most of the students who were enrolled had no prior experience learning Mandarin. Some students had not yet mastered English, and/or were learning Mandarin as a third language.[2]

History

The school opened in the former Maud W. Gordon Elementary School. Before 2012 Gordon had no zoning boundary of its own and it drew excess students from apartments west of Bellaire, in Houston, to relieve other schools in Houston west of Bellaire such as Benavidez, Cunningham, Elrod, and Milne. From its opening to 1953 to 1983 Gordon served as a neighborhood school. After its closure Gordon temporarily housed the Post Oak School and later served as administrative offices. It re-opened as a relief school in 1988 for Elrod and Cunningham schools.[3] It was scheduled to re-open in September 1988.[4]

Harvin C. Moore, a HISD board member, took two education-related trips to China and visited a Chinese immersion program in San Diego, California. Since then he advocated for the creation of a Mandarin speaking magnet program.[5]

In 2011 the HISD board approved the creation of a Mandarin Chinese-language immersion magnet school in the former Holden Elementary in the Houston Heights.[6] As of January 2012, the plans changed, and now the school was to open in Bellaire.[7]

In May 2012 the HISD board voted to spend $440,000 to renovate the Gordon campus. The school was scheduled to open in August 2012 with grades Kindergarten through 2.[5] The first principal was Bryan Bordelon, previously a teacher at Scarborough High School.[8]

The previous Gordon Elementary program was being phased out year by year.[9]

The new campus for the Mandarin School is scheduled to open in August 2016.[10]

Campus

The new campus is located adjacent to St. George Place Elementary School in St. George Place, Houston. The 118,000 square feet (11,000 m2) facility has a price tag of $32 million. The 2012 HISD Bond financed the construction.[11] PBK Architects designed the building.[10] Groundbreaking occurred on December 8, 2014.[12]

The campus includes an auditorium with a stage, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and a technology and design laboratory.[10] The campus uses a sun and moon theme,[11] based on the Chinese character "Míng" (明), which incorporates the sun and the moon. A three-story area known as a "sun wing" houses academic areas while community functions are held in the "moon wing"; the school uses the former to represent energy while the later is meant to represent reflection and subtlety. The school's 3D printing and robotics facilities are located in the laboratory.[10]

In order to facilitate the sounds of Mandarin, including its tones, the school installed a special sound system.[10]

The school will share athletic fields and green areas with St. George Place Elementary.[10]

Curriculum

The school uses a 50-50 immersion model. Half of the instruction is in Mandarin Chinese, provided by teachers who are native Mandarin speakers. The other half are from other teachers who reinforce the concepts that had been taught in Chinese in the English language.[5] The core subjects, Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, and Social Science, are taught mostly in Mandarin. The school dedicates some of its instructional time to the development of English language skills.[13] Each class has two teachers, with one speaking English and the other speaking Mandarin.[8]

As of 2012 the school provides Rosetta Stone software for parents who wish to learn Chinese with their children.[8]

Sister schools

MIMS has two sister schools:[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Home." Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School. Retrieved on February 23, 2013. "6300 Avenue B Bellaire, Texas 77401"
  2. ↑ Gradney, Mia. "Students immersed in language at HISD's first Mandarin Chinese school" (Archive). KHOU. Tuesday October 23, 2012. Retrieved on February 24, 2013.
  3. ↑ School Histories. Houston Independent School District. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  4. ↑ Staff. "Principal of alternative school named" (Archive). Houston Chronicle. Wednesday July 27, 1988. Section 1, Page 16. Retrieved on December 8, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "HISD school to speak Mandarin Chinese." Houston Chronicle. May 16, 2012. Retrieved on February 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Board Creates Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School." Houston Independent School District. December 9, 2011. Retrieved on December 9, 2011.
  7. ↑ "HISD Accepting Applications for Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School." (Archive, PDF, Archive of PDF) Houston Independent School District. January 25, 2012. Retrieved on February 8, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 Evans, Caroline. "Mandarin immersion school gears up for first year." River Oaks Examiner. Friday August 3, 2012. Retrieved on June 24, 2016.
  9. ↑ "School Information." (Archive) Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School. Retrieved on February 24, 2013. "For the 2013-2014 school year, grades PK-3 will be included in the immersion program. Fourth and fifth grades are part of a traditional elementary school program which is being gradually phased out; we cannot accept any applications for those grade levels."
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Baird, Annette. "August 2016 opening planned for Mandarin Chinese Language school." Houston Chronicle. Monday December 29, 2014. Retrieved on June 24, 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School breaks ground for new facility." Houston Independent School District. December 8, 2014. Retrieved on December 15, 2014. See HISDTV video
  12. ↑ "HISD breaks ground on four new campuses, celebrates first project to ‘go vertical’." Houston Independent School District. December 18, 2014. Retrieved on December 21, 2014.
  13. ↑ Meeks, Flori. "School to offer core classes in Chinese." Houston Chronicle. August 21, 2012. Retrieved on February 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Sister schools." Mandarin Immersion Magnet School. Retrieved on August 2, 2016.

External links

Coordinates: 29°42′47″N 95°27′22″W / 29.712957°N 95.456058°W / 29.712957; -95.456058

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.