This site has been organized by parents and other supporters of the Mandarin Chinese Dual Language Program in the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools.
About Chinese Dual Language Immersion Program
The Chinese DL program started in 2002, is open to students from across the entire district, and includes an incredibly diverse group of students of all backgrounds in Kindergarten through High School who are achiving great things together. This program is organized in a highly effective two-way immersion format, in which students typically enter in Kindergarten, and each class includes 12 native Mandarin Chinese speakers and 12 English speakers of all backgrounds. Students spend one half of each school and high school programs.
This immersion format allows students not only to learn from their teachers, but also facilitates students teaching each other both languages to reinforce their learning. Students not only learn vocabulary, pronunciation, and language skills, but they also learn substantive content in through their non-native languge (e.g., math, social studies, science, language arts) and cultural awareness, which permits deeper understanding, mastery, and cognitive development. For Chinese instruction to be truly effective, it is essential for students new to Mandarin to start at a young age in order to master reading and writing of Chinese characters, true native pronunciation, and other complexities of the language and culture. Native Chinese speakers can test into the program at the upper grade levels as well.school day together immersed in Mandarin Chinese, and one half of each day immersed in English through 5th grade, before moving on to the middle
The Chinese DL program has garnered regional, national, and international acclaim, including fetaured stories in local and state media, as well as being featured in reports by the BBC and other broadcasts. We welcome you to browse this site to learn more about our the accomplishments of our students and teachers, and how this star program helps CHCCS retain a well deserved reputation as one of the most innovative and outstanding school districts in the state and nation.
Current Program structure
| Grade | Location |
| K-5 | Gleenwood Elementary since 2002 |
| 6th | Phillips Middle School |
| 7th & 8th | McDougle Middle School |
| 9th & 10th | Chapel Hill High School |
| 11th | optional classes at UNC |