Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold helps Jenks Public Schools secure funding for Chinese language program

August 19, 2009

On August 19, 2009, Jenks Public Schools received word that it will receive up to $1.5 million to fund the first Chinese language immersion program in the state of Oklahoma. The five-year Foreign Language Assistance Program grant, funded through the U.S. Department of Education, supports projects that develop or expand intensive programs of study in foreign languages critical to United States national security. The Jenks project, called “The Chinese Initiative,” will create a partial Chinese language immersion program for students at Southeast Elementary School, as well as an articulated K-16 Chinese language curriculum developed with the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa allowing participating students to acquire unusually advanced levels of Chinese language proficiency.

The immersion program will be rolled out over the next five years at Southeast Elementary. Students will receive half of their daily instruction in Chinese from permanent, native Chinese teachers and half in English from existing English-speaking elementary teachers. The program will also provide teachers and administrators substantial professional development and training in the development and implementation of immersion language learning. The Chinese Initiative was submitted by Jenks with the assistance of Heartland Consulting and RFR. For more information, please contact J. Douglas Mann or Jana Burk.