BCSD Awarded $719,000 Foreign Language Grant

The Binghamton City School District was recently awarded a U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant totaling $719,000 over three years.  The grant will expand our Mandarin Chinese language program at BHS and will also bring Mandarin instruction to both middle schools and one elementary school.

Currently, 120 students are enrolled in the BHS Mandarin program.  By year two of the FLAP grant plan, enrollment in the program at the high school level is expected to grow by 40%.  

At the middle school level, the grant will provide for one full-time Mandarin teacher for both schools in the first year of the grant, with a second middle school teacher to be hired by year two.

Recognizing that it takes years to become proficient in a foreign language, the district is committed to bringing the Mandarin program to the elementary level, to achieve the goal of an uninterrupted sequence of foreign language study in grades K-12.  By year three of the grant, students in an undetermined elementary school will study Mandarin during the school day on a daily basis.

The grant will also fund cultural programs, such as fine arts programs, performances and lessons in Chinese customs, art and history.

The district has already built a solid foundation for the Mandarin program through a Partnership Exchange Program created in 2005 with East China University, and through collaboration with the Asian Studies programs at Binghamton University and Cornell University.