Pantera Elementary School to Hold Community Tours of English/Mandarin Immersion Program

Pantera Elementary School will host two community tours of its successful English/Mandarin Dual Language Immersion Program, which will begin its second year of kindergarten classes in the 2016-17 school year.

Parents and community members are invited to see the program in action during one of two tours taking place from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at Pantera Elementary School, 801 Pantera Drive, Diamond Bar.

Tours will be conducted by Mandarin kindergarten and first grade teachers Jie Gao and Christina Hsu. Attendees will learn about the benefits of the program and observe an instructional segment.

Pomona Unified launched its first English/Mandarin Dual Language Immersion Program at Pantera in the fall of 2015 to great success.

The program follows a 50:50 model, where 50 percent of instruction occurs in the target language of Mandarin and 50 percent of instruction is in English. The class comprises native English speakers and native Mandarin speakers, enabling both sets of students to interact and learn new vocabulary skills. The program also produces students to become biliterate and bilingual as they progress through their academic careers at Pomona Unified.

Children must be 5 years old by Sept. 1, 2016 to qualify for admission to the program in the 2016-17 school year, which begins Wednesday, Aug. 10.

To RSVP, email the child’s name, birth date, parent contact name and phone number, and address to alexandria.french@pusd.org.

For more information, call Alexandria French at 909-397-4475.