Kindergarten-8th Grade Cantonese One-Way Language Immersion Program

Established in 1995, Alice Fong Yu Alternative School (尤方玉屏學校) is the Nation’s first Chinese immersion public school. It was established as a one-way immersion program with no eligibility requirements based on students’ home language. In 2012-13, Alice Fong Yu transitioned to a new “Alice Fong Yu Chinese Immersion Pilot Program” to promote opportunities for English learners to benefit from the Immersion program at Alice Fong Yu. The proportion of potential English learners is between 1/3 and 2/3, and the corresponding proportion of English-only students is between 2/3 and 1/3. Prior to enrollment in the district, the student’s parents/guardians complete the SFUSD’s Home Language Survey (HLS) on the enrollment application.  Detailed information about the school’s program and language balances can be found at: http://www.afypa.org/ and https://www.sfusd.edu/school/alice-fong-yu-alternative-school-k-8

Students Served

• English Learners
• English proficient students

Language Instruction

• The students at Alice Fong Yu have the unique opportunity to acquire Cantonese (K-8) and Mandarin (6-8).
• Students in the middle grades will take one Cantonese language arts and one Accelerated Mandarin course each year.
• Curriculum integrates Chinese World Language Proficiency Targets.

TK-1 Pathway Eligibility

• If the survey indicates that a language other than English is spoken with or by the student in the home, the student will be placed in the potential English Learner assignment pool.
• If the survey indicates that only English is spoken in the home, the student will be placed into the English-only assignment pool.

Students who wish to enroll in the 2-8 Secondary Dual Language Pathway (SDLP) must meet one of the following requirements:

• Students currently enrolled in a SFUSD Cantonese Immersion Pathway or Cantonese Newcomer Pathway; OR
• Students currently enrolled in a SFUSD Cantonese Biliteracy Pathway and meet the proficiency level on the grade level Cantonese Placement Test; OR
• Students who are not enrolled in a SFUSD Cantonese language pathway or are new to SFUSD and meet the proficiency level on the Cantonese assessment given at the EC