On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, Traverse City Area Public Schools will hold an informational meeting regarding its new Chinese/English Immersion Education Preschool Program. The meeting will be held on the second floor of the Tompkins Boardman Administration Building, 412 Webster Street, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, TCAPS will begin to offer the Chinese/English Immersion Education Preschool Program in partnership with the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence and the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University. The program values the strengths of two distinct and different educational systems. It incorporates the best educational practices of both the East and the West in terms of language, culture, and teaching methods. This blending allows children to move between different cultures, languages, and educational philosophies as part of their school day. In Western classrooms, students learn in the English language with a child-centered Reggio Emilia approach. In Eastern classrooms, students learn in the Mandarin Chinese language with the knowledge-centered instructional practices of the East.

For more information, please contact Early Childhood Programs Director Cheryl Bloomquist at 933-1780.