City Terrace Elementary School- Home of the Eagles

Mandarin Dual Language Program

City Terrace Elementary School is proud to have established Los Angeles Unified School District's first Mandarin-English Dual Language Program. Our classes are designed to develop literacy skills in both Mandarin Chinese and English and prepare out students to be global citizens in the 21st century.
In addition to learning all the state standards in English, students in the program will also learn to speak in Mandarin as well as read and write in both traditional and simplified forms of Chinese. All subject areas, including science, social studies, arts, health, and physical education, are taught using both languages in a 50% English-50% Mandarin ratio.
Our Mandarin-English Dual Language Program started  back in 2007 with with a full-day kindergarten class, and now the program is fully established, from Extended Transitional Kindergarten (ETK) to 5th grade.
Both Chinese-speaking students and English-proficient students are welcome to join our program. English proficient students need to demonstrate grade-level Mandarin proficiency in order to enroll to the existing classes that are 2nd grade and above. Inter-district permits for LAUSD students living outside of the City Terrace area and inter-permits for students outside LAUSD are available. We currently have students attending out school from all over Los Angeles City and County.

Program Objectives

Our School is committed to:
  • Offering a rich language-learning environment
  • Providing standards-based curriculum aligned with World Language Standards
  • Facilitating language acquisition and maximizing academic achievement through integrated curriculum
  • Collaborating with multi-cultural communities to promote language use beyond the school setting 
  • Differentiating instruction to nurture multiple intelligence

Dual Language Program

Our Mandarin Dual Language Program is designed to:
  • Develop bi-literacy skills in English and Mandarin Chinese regardless of primary languages or ethnic background
  • Provide language and content instruction in both languages across all subject areas 
  • Build upon students' primary language strengths 
  • Support high levels of second language proficiency
  • Offer a pathway to academic success, career opportunities, and life-long learning
  • Promote student-centered learning and collaboration

Program Benefits

After our program, our students will:
  • Become global citizens in the 21st century
  • Attain sophisticated language skills in both English and Mandarin Chinese
  • Develop cognitive skills-flexibility, memory, critical thinking, and problem-solving
  • Gain cultural understanding, sensitivity, and appreciation
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Enrollment Requirements

To enroll for 2021-2022 school year, students must meet one of the following requirements:
  • Have sufficient English proficiency for Grades K-1
  • Have sufficient Mandarin and English proficiency in  beyond Grade 1 (Language assessment will be given to students to determine placement prior to enrollment)
  • Be Chinese-speaking or come from a Chinese-speaking family.