PACE - Palo Alto Chinese Education

Press Release: January 8, 2003

PACE
Palo Alto Chinese Education Association
P.O.Box 893
Palo Alto, CA 94302

For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Grace Mah
PACE
650-493-6360
[email protected]

Alexis Hamilton
The Hamilton Group
650.843.0311
[email protected]

BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN PALO ALTO SCHOOLS

PACE Announces Parent Information Nights to Discuss the Value of Early Language Education

PALO ALTO, Calif. - January 8, 2003. - PACE today announced a schedule of parent information meetings to discuss the value of early language learning and the benefits of a Chinese language immersion program for Palo Alto elementary school children. Two world-renown bilingual education experts, Dr. Guadalupe Valdes of Stanford University and Dr. Kathryn Lindholm-Leary of San Jose State University, will be speaking at the meetings.

"With 1/5th of the world's population speaking Chinese, it makes sense to provide Palo Alto students with language skills," said Mary Jew, President of NABE (National Association for Bilingual Education). "In addition to providing students with skills for the shrinking world, education that involves multilingualism has demonstrated benefits for cognitive thinking based on years of research."

PACE is working to bring this philosophy into the Palo Alto Schools by supporting the inception of a bilingual Chinese kindergarten and first grade starting in September 2003.

"I believe it is vital for my two children and those of others in Palo Alto to be prepared fully to engage the extraordinary global transformations that are being fueled from within China," said Dr. Matthew Kohrman, PACE member and Assistant Professor of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University. "This is especially so since we live on the Pacific Rim."

Two parent information sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Jan 11, 2003, 10am - 12pm, El Carmelo Elementary School, 3024 Bryant St., Multipurpose room; and Thursday, Jan 30, 2003, 7pm - 9pm, PAUSD Office, Room A, 25 Churchill Ave.

Dr. Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at San Jose State University and an expert on two-way immersion education, will be speaking on the value of the immersion education model and the effectiveness of such programs based on her
research on January 30, 2003.

Dr. Guadalupe Valdes, Professor of Education and Spanish at Stanford University, has been named the Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor in Education, based on her research and teaching focus on issues related
to quality education based on democratic values. Dr. Valdes will be speaking on Saturday, January 11, 2003.

About PACE

PACE (Palo Alto Chinese Education) was founded in January 2002 by Palo Alto families that believe language immersion is an essential part of the education process. PACE now includes more than 100 families who are working closely with the Palo Alto school board to implement a Chinese language immersion program patterned after Palo Alto's acclaimed Spanish Immersion program. For more information please see http://www.geocities.com/PACEforKids/. To join PACE please send an email to [email protected]

PACE
Palo Alto Chinese Education Association
P.O.Box 893
Palo Alto, CA 94302

For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Grace Mah
PACE
650-493-6360
[email protected]

Alexis Hamilton
The Hamilton Group
650.843.0311
[email protected]

BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN PALO ALTO SCHOOLS

PACE Announces Parent Information Nights to Discuss the Value of Early Language Education

PALO ALTO, Calif. - January 8, 2003. - PACE today announced a schedule of parent information meetings to discuss the value of early language learning and the benefits of a Chinese language immersion program for Palo Alto elementary school children. Two world-renown bilingual education experts, Dr. Guadalupe Valdes of Stanford University and Dr. Kathryn Lindholm-Leary of San Jose State University, will be speaking at the meetings.

"With 1/5th of the world's population speaking Chinese, it makes sense to provide Palo Alto students with language skills," said Mary Jew, President of NABE (National Association for Bilingual Education). "In addition to providing students with skills for the shrinking world, education that involves multilingualism has demonstrated benefits for cognitive thinking based on years of research."

PACE is working to bring this philosophy into the Palo Alto Schools by supporting the inception of a bilingual Chinese kindergarten and first grade starting in September 2003.

"I believe it is vital for my two children and those of others in Palo Alto to be prepared fully to engage the extraordinary global transformations that are being fueled from within China," said Dr. Matthew Kohrman, PACE member and Assistant Professor of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University. "This is especially so since we live on the Pacific Rim."

Two parent information sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Jan 11, 2003, 10am - 12pm, El Carmelo Elementary School, 3024 Bryant St., Multipurpose room; and Thursday, Jan 30, 2003, 7pm - 9pm, PAUSD Office, Room A, 25 Churchill Ave.

Dr. Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at San Jose State University and an expert on two-way immersion education, will be speaking on the value of the immersion education model and the effectiveness of such programs based on her
research on January 30, 2003.

Dr. Guadalupe Valdes, Professor of Education and Spanish at Stanford University, has been named the Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor in Education, based on her research and teaching focus on issues related
to quality education based on democratic values. Dr. Valdes will be speaking on Saturday, January 11, 2003.

About PACE

PACE (Palo Alto Chinese Education) was founded in January 2002 by Palo Alto families that believe language immersion is an essential part of the education process. PACE now includes more than 100 families who are working closely with the Palo Alto school board to implement a Chinese language immersion program patterned after Palo Alto's acclaimed Spanish Immersion program. For more information please see http://www.geocities.com/PACEforKids/. To join PACE please send an email to [email protected]