PHOENIX — The Mandarin immersion program at Gavilan Peak School in Anthem is being phased out due to low enrollment, a recurring issue in recent years.
Deer Valley Unified School District Deputy Superintendent Gayle Galligan said a standard kindergarten class is 24-26 kids, and the minimum for an immersion class is 20. But right now, fewer than 10 prospective students are interested in the Mandarin program for the upcoming school year.
“In immersion programs, we go from kindergarten through eighth grade before kids go up into high school,” Galligan said. “If you don’t have a robust kindergarten group of kids over nine years, there is just natural attrition with families moving or making other choices, and so that number in kindergarten tends to dwindle all the way through 8th grade.”
Why Mandarin immersion program at Anthem school is being phased out?
Galligan said a major reason for the enrollment decline is Arizona’s school choice laws, which allow parents to send their children to schools outside of district boundaries, including those with bigger sports or academics programs.
“Anthem is full of private schools, charter schools, and then our own Deer Valley schools. And there are only so many children to go around in Anthem. That area is pretty compressed. So, there’s lots of different options for kindergarten parents,” she explained.
Another factor is the new Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plant. When workers at the plant moved to the area, so did their families, which brought an influx of kids to the community and schools. However, those families are more interested in their kids focusing on English.
“What we found with our TSMC families is they want their kids immersed in the English language. So, they’re not as interested in having their children in a Mandarin program, and I completely understand that,” Galligan said. “When you want to have your children learn a language, you immerse them in that language itself.”
What’s the impact of Mandarin immersion program at Gavilan Peak School?
Some of the TSMC families do speak Mandarin, and though that may not help with the program’s enrollment, it gives opportunities for connection to students studying the language. One of those students is Genevieve Curtis, a freshman at Boulder Creek High School.
“With the TSMC semiconductor plant coming in, there is more Taiwanese influence and more Taiwanese families coming in. So, if I just meet Taiwanese people moving around in the community or everyday life, then I can communicate with them and form friendships,” she said.
Not only is Genevieve participating in the Mandarin immersion program, but she also won the Chinese National Speech Competition in the 9-12 immersion group last month by speaking about Mandarin culture.
“I realized it was a speech I really wanted to win. I thought that it conveyed my love for Mandarin within it and so I really tried to make it the winning speech,” she said.
Student who took Mandarin immersion program a language ambassador
She now has the opportunity to travel to China next year as a language ambassador and can compete in the International Chinese Speech Competition next school year.
Genevieve’s family moved to Arizona when she was in the fifth grade, which is when she joined the program. But she already had a head start, beginning her Mandarin journey at home.
“My two brothers are adopted from China, and so I spoke Chinese with them originally. And when I moved to Arizona, I was afraid I would lose my Mandarin, but Gavilan Peak’s Mandarin program helped me continue learning Mandarin and growing,” she explained.
When asked about the program being phased out, Genevieve said she hopes it could be brought back so other students can have the experiences she did. She said the most important skill she learned from the program is working hard, and she hopes to be able to use Mandarin in the future. As of right now, Genevieve is interested in international business as a career field.
Galligan said there is a way to bring the Mandarin immersion program back: increased interest. The district is working to make that happen using billboards, representatives at Anthem’s fairs and newsletters.
“We’re doing everything we can,” she said.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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