Mandarin coming to Randall Elementary World Languages School

Starting in the Fall of 2023, Randall Elementary School will be adding Mandarin to its school curriculum. 

Randall is a dual-immersion Elementary School and is the only MUSD school that provides a Bilingual Immersion program. So far, the school has provided education in both English and Spanish. However, recently Randall has opened up to add a third language… 

In May of 2021, the MUSD Board approved the integration of a third language at Randall in order “to continue to develop a way to create graduates that are multilingual global citizens and to prepare all of our students for future opportunities,” according to Randall Co-Principal Kristan Prolo.

Since then, the school has sought community input to determine what the third language would be. This began in 2022 when in-person and virtual community input meetings were held. The school also gathered input through PTA meetings, Back to School Nights, and more. In total, there were nearly 1,000 sources of community input regarding the new language. 

From there, a survey was held to determine the final language. Fifty percent of survey participants favored adding a Chinese dialect to the curriculum. 

Mandarin was highly favored by survey participants, with many different reasons being cited. According to Prolo, “Many responses shared [when they chose Mandarin] that they felt it would best prepare the children of MUSD for strong futures in a global environment, in addition to their ability to speak English and Spanish.” Other reasons included the accessibility of the curriculum and the opportunity to hire native speakers, as well as research indicating that Mandarin is one of the three most commonly spoken languages in the world, alongside English and Spanish. 

Developing the full curriculum, finding staff, and recruiting and enrolling students in the program became the school’s next steps. Parents interested in learning about Randall’s new Mandarin program are welcome to attend the school’s monthly orientations on the topic.  

Said Prolo, “We are thrilled that any family that resides or works within the Milpitas Unified boundary will have the opportunity to enroll their student in this unique program offered at Randall beginning in TK and Kindergarten for the 23-24 school year.”