K-5
Mandarin Academy has high academic standards without being obsessive.
We exceed California state requirements for English, math, social sciences, science, and fine arts. Our Chinese curriculum follows guidelines provided by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education. (We’ve chosen to teach complex characters used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, rather than the simplified characters in the People’s Republic of China because it’s easier to learn simple after complex than vice versa.) While we would prefer our students stay at Mandarin Academy, our goal is that a student who moved with his or her family should be able to transfer, at or above grade level, to any public school in America, Taiwan, or China.
At Mandarin Academy we are very serious about academics, yet we also believe that kids should be kids. We have instilled a “limited homework” rule that allows our children to participate in after school activities such as soccer, wushu, and gymnastics much more easily than at other private schools we’ve attended. We believe it is important that our students spend time together with their families without the stress of loads of homework. Our secret? We hire great teachers and we have few students per teacher (our target is no more than 8:1) because that allows teachers to motivate students and help them quickly learn challenging material. Our students are able to learn a tremendous amount of material during school hours but also have time to play after school.
Mandarin Academy emphasizes great teaching.
Our gifted teachers develop creative lesson plans that make learning fun: The children learn about the life-cycle of insects by raising silkworms. Our first graders learn about tens and ones by practicing with an abacus, which not only makes the mathematical principles visual, it also emphasizes Chinese culture (and allows them to add numbers faster than you can enter them on a calculator). They learn about currency, math, and Chinese culture by participating in a “night market,” ordering and eating typical street vendor dishes cooked by our teachers and some culinarily skilled parents (and as a side-benefit the parents get to eat at the night market, too). Mandarin Academy's parents founded the school to allow our children to work together with these great teachers. We are a nonprofit, so all of our money goes to paying the teachers a salary they deserve while keeping tuition at a reasonable level.
Mandarin Academy emphasizes character and Christian values such as discipline, kindness, joy, peace-making, and service.
This is present not only in the daily character lessons drawn from the Bible and other sources, but it is also emphasized in the day-to-day interactions between families, their children, teachers, and administrators. We take pride in protecting our school and our kids’ education by creating a community of honor, respect, and discipline. Mandarin Academy encourages and promotes our students to be good citizens who are ready to contribute to their school, family, peers, churches, and communities.
Curriculum
Chinese:
Using Taiwan’s curriculum as a standard in conjunction with United States High School Chinese AP test format as well as responding to the demands of the changing world.
Daily reading- Culture
- Curriculum based off of the AP test format
- Proper stroke training
- Listening training
- Under a fun environment, allow students to practice speaking
- Use the computer as a form of teaching
Math:
Class Schedule
K-2: 9AM-3PM
3-5: 8:30AM-3PM
Before and After School Extended Learning Program:
3-3:30PM (MA day school students free)
3:30-6PM Mon-Fri
3:30-4:30PM Mon-Fri (Chinese Level 2)
4:30-5:30PM Mon-Fri (Chinese Level 1)
4:30-5:30PM (Wednesday Art Class)
Academic Achievement
Placed in top 4% of IOWA test
