Why Barnard Mandarin Magnet Elementary School?
Barnard Mandarin Magnet Elementary offers students the
unique opportunity to learn the Mandarin Chinese language, the fastest
growing language in the world. Barnard is located in the Pacific Beach
area, and is part of the Mission Bay Cluster, the only cluster in the San Diego Unified School District that offers a pathway to learn Mandarin from elementary through high school. As a Choice school, our students come to us from all over San Diego County.
All of our teachers are able to effectively teach our students California Common Core education in English and Math. Our Mandarin teaching staff are highly qualified and trained in teaching Mandarin as a second language. While our UTK class is not immersed in Mandarin, its students receive an introduction to the Mandarin
language through songs and movement activities throughout the year.
Kindergarten classrooms follow a 80/20 immersion model, in which
students spend 80 percent of their day learning in Mandarin and 20 percent learning in English. Grades 1 – 5 follow the 50/50
model. Students spend half of their instructional day in Mandarin and
the other half in English. Students successfully develop the ability to
use the Mandarin language in a natural context, which accelerates the
acquisition of the Mandarin language.
Each
classroom is equipped with an i21 suite (document camera, Smartboard,
and computer devices for each student), which enables students to
utilize technology as a tool to demonstrate learning through various
multimedia presentations. We also use iReady, a personalized learning program that facilitates students to learn and be challenged at each individual's level in reading and in Math. In addition, with the support of our PTA, we partner with San Diego Youth Science to bring experiential science lessons into every classroom.
The
blending of a world language program with a challenging English
curriculum enables Barnard students to use their knowledge of diverse
cultures to think critically, act globally, and become thoughtful,
responsible, and successful global citizens. Barnard
also integrates the Chinese arts, such as Chinese calligraphy, tai-chi, ancient Chinese arts, music, dance and literature to complete our
students’ learning of the Mandarin Language and Chinese culture.
In addition, as a Choice school, our community is very diverse representing cultures from all over the world and residing all over San Diego County. Our PTA plans fun monthly events for our students and families to enjoy and get together such as Multicultural Day, Writer's Day, STEAM Day, family mixers, and our signature Lunar New Year Festival.