The principal and parents at Paint Branch Elementary School have devised a plan to save the school’s Chinese immersion program, which the Prince George’s County Board of Education (BOE) had designated for extinction.
The strategy would make immersion—now required for all students from kindergarten through fifth grade—optional and would lower enrollment in the program to approximately half of the school’s 500 pupils.
Parents would opt into the program through a lottery that would admit students in all six grades until the designated seats are filled.
Students in immersion would spend half of their days learning math and science from a teacher speaking Mandarin and the other half studying English, reading and social studies in English.
Instruction for students whose parents choose not to participate in the lottery will be delivered entirely in English for all subjects.
“We’re hoping it won’t change the dynamic of the school much,” Principal Emmett Hendershot said. “All of the students will be learning the same thing. It’s just that some will be learning it in Mandarin.”
At Paint Branch in the fall, six Mandarin-speaking teachers will staff the immersion classrooms, down from 12 this school year.
Hendershot said he plans to retain the program’s academic dean, Pei-Hsuan Liu.
The Board of Education in January had proposed replacing Paint Branch’s immersion model, which costs $1.2 million this school year, with world languages classes, including one that would teach Mandarin once or twice a week, starting with the next school year.
In addition, the board has said it will phase out Chinese immersion programs at Greenbelt Middle School and Largo High School, where some Paint Branch graduates transfer to continue their Mandarin studies.
“That’s when the community got involved, had meetings, [and] came up with possible solutions to keep the program going,” Hendershot said.
One of the parents leading the protest is Ana Gutierrez, whose 7-year-old daughter attends Paint Branch. Gutierrez, who lives in College Park’s Berwyn neighborhood, said the redesigned program is “not where we want to be, but it’s definitely a move in the right direction. … This at least gives us a solid foundation as we continue to advocate for the coming year.”
Still, she said, if her daughter does not win a lottery spot for next year, “I will probably huff and puff and be very upset, and I’ll be one of those people advocating for another teacher for another class.”
The BOE is still on track to end the Chinese tracks at Greenbelt and Largo once all of their current immersion students graduate, so Paint Branch fifth-graders will not have the option to continue studying Mandarin through Prince George’s County Public Schools after they graduate.
Gutierrez said Paint Branch parents have drawn support from city, county and state officials.
The College Park mayor and city council in February sent a letter to the BOE asking for continued funding for the school’s all-student immersion track.
An immersion curriculum, the mayor said in the letter, “represents a unique and valuable academic pathway that contributes to bilingual proficiency, cultural competency and long-term academic achievement for students. For many families in College Park, access to language immersion programs is a key factor in choosing to live, learn and enroll in our public schools.”
Another supporter is District 2 BOE member Jonathan Briggs, who represents most of College Park. He said he is hopeful the board will approve Hendershot’s plan.
“I love that the school is being flexible, looking at their budget creatively and taking action on it,” said Briggs, who is not running for re-election this year and will leave his seat in December.
Briggs added: “It seems that there is a coalescing among the community to maintain these language immersion programs,” noting that garnering the support of state legislators and Prince George’s County Councilmembers will help the school in the future.
“I’m happy that people are getting what they want,” Briggs said. “Education isn’t just about math and science and reading. [There are] so many benefits proven through research that speak to the proven power of language in the workforce and beyond. These are really good things that we’re setting our students up for.”