Save Shuang Wen School

中文版 – Chinese version

Founded in 1998, Shuang Wen is the first public elementary and middle school in the U.S. with a dual culture/dual language English and Mandarin curriculum. Shuang Wen graduates are fluent in two languages and intimately familiar with the customs and cultures of both the Chinese- and English- speaking worlds.

Academic Excellence

The Shuang Wen School, or P.S. 184M, is at the forefront of a nationwide effort to address our country’s increasing needs for well-educated, bilingual citizens who are versed in the world’s diversity. The School is a unique model for other programs that wish to achieve the highest academic standards while producing speakers of both Mandarin and English. Shuang Wen is successfully preparing a growing number of students to be leaders in a global world.

Shuang Wen is located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, steps from New York’s Chinatown. Its innovative educational program thrives within a vibrant community of educators, parents, artists and cultural leaders dedicated to nurturing highly-educated individuals who will build bridges across cultures.

On standardized tests in reading, English and math, nearly 100 percent of the students exceed grade level standards, making Shuang Wen one of the top-ranking public schools in New York City. These achievements are all the more remarkable because many children come from homes in which neither Mandarin nor English is spoken. Furthermore, based on recent statistics, about 70% of the children enrolled at Shuang Wen are living under the poverty threshold and qualify for the Federal free lunch program.

Shuang Wen is one of only a few top-ranked public schools in New York City that has so high a proportion of low-income students.

Mandarin Immersion

Instruction in Mandarin takes place primarily during Shuang Wen’s mandatory after-school program, which begins at the close of the regular New York City public school day and runs from 2:50 to 5:30 pm. The after-school instructors are all native Mandarin speakers and experienced teachers. Applying the whole language approach, the teachers use only Mandarin with the children and present material in Chinese similar to that covered during the regular school day in social studies, science and math. In addition, the Chinese literature curriculum rivals that of elementary and middle schools in the Mandarin-speaking world.

A focus on dual language literacy begins with the youngest children. Pre-kindergarten through first grade children learn the Zhuyin Fuhao system of phonetic symbols and then study traditional Chinese characters, mastering stroke order and penmanship. Beginning in the second grade, the curriculum emphasizes writing and composition. Middle school students add to their knowledge the Pinyin phonetic system and the simplified character writing system, while building on their knowledge of Chinese history and geography. Across all grades, there is an emphasis on Chinese traditional culture including music, art, drama, poetry, and movement.

Shuang Wen’s linguistic and cultural immersion program continues during a six-week full-day summer session conducted almost entirely in Mandarin. By the time they graduate from Middle School, students are proficient users of two phonetic systems and of both traditional and simplified Chinese characters. The beauty of our dual language and dual culture curriculum is that students are prepared for any Mandarin Chinese setting.

Challenge for the Future

Shuang Wen’s rapid growth to more than ten times its original size reflects its excellence. Starting with 42 students in two kindergartens, sharing space with another school, the School now has its own building and over 660 students. June 2007 marked the Middle School graduation of Shuang Wen’s founding kindergarten class. Shuang Wen has demonstrated that it can educate its children with an extraordinary degree of success, despite the economic hardship many of the families face.

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雙文學校創立於1998年，是全美第一所中英雙語雙文化的公立中小學。‭‬雙文的畢業生都能夠講一口流利的中文及英文，並且熟知華語和英語世界的文化與習俗。