Mandarin Immersion Magnet School

Last updated

Mandarin Immersion Magnet School
Mandarin Immersion Magnet School Logo.png
MandarinChineseSchoolHouston.jpg
School campus
Address
Mandarin Immersion Magnet School
5445 West Alabama

Houston
,
Texas
77056

United States
Coordinates 29°44′15″N95°28′20″W / 29.737377°N 95.472242°W / 29.737377; -95.472242
Information
Other nameMIMS
Former nameMandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School
Type Magnet school
Established2012 (2012)
School district Houston Independent School District
NCES School ID 482364012659 [1]
PrincipalCindy Tiet
Teaching staff37.10 (on an FTE basis) [1]
GradesPK–8
Enrollment638 (2017–2018) [1]
Student to teacher ratio17.20 [1]
Language English and Mandarin Chinese
Website www.houstonisd.org/MIMS
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 中文沉浸学校
Traditional Chinese 中文沉浸學校

Mandarin Immersion Magnet School (MIMS), formerly Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School (MCLIMS), is a magnet school in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 2012 and is part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD). 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. [2]

Contents

History

Former campus (vacated before fall 2016). MandarinChineseMagnetSchoolHouston.JPG
Former campus (vacated before fall 2016).

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] [8]

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. [9]

The previous Gordon Elementary program was being phased out year by year. [10]

In 2017, HISD announced plans to demolish the former MIMS campus so Bellaire High School's baseball practice field could be relocated there, allowing HISD to easily rebuild the high school main campus. [11] The new campus for the Mandarin School was scheduled to open in August 2016. [12]

In 2019, principal Chaolin Chang resigned; he stated it was for personal reasons. A group of parents believing HISD forced Chang to resign protested, demanding that HISD reveal the reasons why he resigned and to either re-instate Chang or make another speaker of Mandarin Chinese a principal. [13]

Curriculum

For elementary, 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. However, the middle school curriculum provides only a Chinese class and math class in Mandarin. The school dedicates some of its instructional time to the development of English language skills. [14] Each class has two teachers, with one speaking English and the other speaking Mandarin. [9]

As of 2012, the school provides Rosetta Stone software for parents who wish to learn Chinese with their children. [9]

Academic performance

As of 2019, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) issued an accountability rating of 97, among the highest of any HISD school. [13]

Student body

In the 2017–2018 school year, 38% of the students were Asian, 19% were non-Hispanic white, 18% were Hispanic, 17% were African-American, and 9% were Multiracial. Margaret Downing of the Houston Press characterizes this as "a diverse student body." [13]

As of 2012, 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. [15]

Campus

The new campus is located adjacent to St. George Place Elementary School in St. George Place, Houston. The 118,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) facility has a price tag of $32 million. The 2012 HISD Bond financed the construction. [16]

PBK Architects designed the building. [12] Groundbreaking occurred on December 8, 2014. [17]

The campus includes an auditorium with a stage, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and a technology and design laboratory. [12] The campus uses a sun and moon theme, [16] 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. [12]

In order to facilitate the sounds of Mandarin, including its tones, the school installed a special sound system. The school shares athletic fields and green areas with St. George Place Elementary. [12]

Sister schools

The school has two sister schools: [18]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Search for Public Schools - MANDARIN IMMERSION MAGNET SCHOOL (482364012659)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Home." Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School. Retrieved on February 23, 2013. "6300 Avenue B Bellaire, Texas 77401"
  3. ↑ "School Histories". Houston Independent School District. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Principal of alternative school named". Chron.com. Houston Chronicle. July 27, 1988. p. 16 (section 1). Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Mellon, Ericka (May 16, 2012). "HISD school to speak Mandarin Chinese". Chron.com. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Board Creates Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School". Houston Independent School District. December 9, 2011. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  7. ↑ "HISD Accepting Applications for Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School". Houston Independent School District. January 25, 2012. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ "HISD Board of Education Creates Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School" (PDF). Houston Independent School District. December 8, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 16, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 Evans, Caroline (August 3, 2012). "Mandarin immersion school gears up for first year". River Oaks Examiner. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  10. ↑ "School Information". Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved 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.
  11. ↑ "Plan to rebuild Bellaire HS moving forward". Houston Independent School District. June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Baird, Annette (December 29, 2014). "August 2016 opening planned for Mandarin Chinese Language school". Chron.com. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Downing, Margaret (April 11, 2019). "Get Ready HISD Trustees, Parents at the Mandarin Immersion Magnet School Are Headed Your Way". Houston Press. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  14. ↑ Meeks, Flori (August 21, 2012). "School to offer core classes in Chinese". Chron.com. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  15. ↑ Gradney, Mia (October 23, 2012). "Students immersed in language at HISD's first Mandarin Chinese school". KHOU 11 News. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  16. 1 2 "Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School breaks ground for new facility". Houston Independent School District. December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  17. ↑ "HISD breaks ground on four new campuses, celebrates first project to 'go vertical'". Houston Independent School District. December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Sister schools". Mandarin Immersion Magnet School. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
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