Potrero Hill, San Francisco

The SF Chronicle recently featured the Mandarin immersion program at Potrero Hill’s Starr King Elementary school, which is the first of it’s kind in San Francisco’s public schools.

Much is riding on the experiment. Success could mean more Mandarin and other immersion programs across the city, luring families to underenrolled schools they might have otherwise ignored. Failure might mean the closure of the school on Potrero Hill.

The program has thus far brought more Asian American and white students into the school, which predominantly consists of African American and Latino students. The school’s principal, Chris Rosenberg, aspires for the school to eventually become more integrated.

Chronicle photo by: Frederic Larson

• Kindergarten Immersion [ SF Chronicle ]