Hopkins' XinXing Academy primed to kick off school year

Hopkins' XinXing Academy primed to kick off school year
BY Marc Ingber - Sun Newspapers(Created: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 11:10 PM CDT)
Marc Ingber - Sun Newspapers

http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2007/08/31/news/fw30xinxing.txt

A few years ago, Kimberly Ruthenbeck tried to get her oldest daughter into a metro-area Spanish immersion program, but had no luck because it was filled up.Now, Ruthenbeck's younger daughter, Claire, has reached kindergarten and this time she was more fortunate getting into a language program - and she didn't even have to leave the district.Claire will be attending XinXing Academy, Hopkins Public Schools' first immersion magnet program, which opens its doors along with the rest of the district next week. The Chinese academy, which is located in Eisenhower Elementary, 1001 Highway 7 in Hopkins, will start this year with two sections of full-day kindergarten and add an additional grade each year up through sixth grade."I was excited that the Hopkins School District had taken the leap to put an immersion program in," said Ruthenbeck, a Golden Valley resident. "I thought it would be an asset for her to learn Chinese."XinXing means "new star" in Mandarin Chinese. Eisenhower principal Rosemary Lawrence, who also heads XinXing, said Chinese is a practical language to learn since China is the world's most populous nation and it has many political and economic ties with the U.S."People see the value in learning Chinese," she said. "It's a language that has a lot of interest around it."At XinXing, all subject matter will be taught in Mandarin Chinese for the full day. Students will never hear their teachers speak English. The academy's two teachers and two teaching assistants all are native Chinese speakers.Forty-five students are enrolled at the school - about half come from within the district and half are open-enrolled. Lawrence said parents had different reasons for enrolling their children in a Chinese-immersion program. In some instances, one of two parents is Chinese. Other parents have no specific connections to China, but want their child to know a second language. "It is parents that are interested in giving their children the best opportunity possible in education," Lawrence said.Beth Ross, who will be sending her daughter, Rachel, to XinXing said that learning a language like Chinese will have benefits down the road."Chinese is a hard language to learn as an adult," she said. "It's good to have them learn when they are young, when it comes easier."Ruthenbeck agreed - she said learning a variety of subjects in a second language makes students flex their brain muscles."It challenges them in different ways," she said. "It's amazing to watch how quickly they pick it up."Lawrence said one of the challenges of a Chinese-immersion program is that the language and characters are often completely foreign to parents. The academy has a strong group of dedicated parents who want to be involved in their children's education, but they have to find ways to do that without speaking English while at the school."They're going to want to be involved," she said. "We have to harness that energy in ways that makes them feel valued."She said parents would be asked to provide their children with experiences that will help develop their English-language skills. They will be asked to read to them daily in English and engage them in activities where they need to apply what they are learning in class.Ruthenbeck said she has to recognize that her daughter is going to know something that she doesn't."It is an adjustment," she said.Those enrolled at XinXing are considered Hopkins students - they will have contact with other students at Eisenhower in assemblies and other programs. Lawrence said the school will hold Chinese cooking classes and other activities for all students so that they will be able to learn more about the culture."It's exciting because we can add things to Eisenhower," Ruthenbeck said. "It's going to be really good for both sides."In preparation for the school year, XinXing's teachers participated in a weeklong training session offered by the University of Minnesota's Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) program. Lawrence said XinXing would use resources from the CARLA program throughout the year to ensure that its academic program is as rich in Chinese as it would be in English."We're confident this is going to be an excellent program," she said.It's not just the teachers and parents who are looking forward to XinXing's first year."Claire is completely excited," Ruthenbeck said. "She keeps asking me how many more days until I go to Chinese school."The tuition cost for XinXing is $3,402 per year, or $378 per month. For more information on the academy, go to the district's website, www.hopkins.k12.