Why YHALE?

Yi Hwang Academy Language of Excellence (YHALE ) offers a Korean-English / Chinese-English dual-language immersion program. A public chartered primary school, approved by the Georgia Department of Education, YHALE is committed to integrating the essence of Eastern and Western educational practices and providing high-quality bilingual education for elementary school students. The school follows the concept of whole-person education, with the core values ​​of "knowledge as action”, and aims to nurture students to become self-driven, persevering, communicative, and creative learners, creators and leaders.

· What is immersive Chinese or Korean teaching?

At YHALE, the teaching content in Chinese/Korean and English will be divided by half. Unlike language lessons in other schools, YHALE's Chinese/Korean is no longer taught as a foreign language. Students learn the target language through learning the subject content. There will be no English elements in the target language classroom, and students will be completely immersed in the Chinese/Korean world. The same applies to the subjects taught in English. No Chinese/Korean elements will appear. The subjects that will be taught in the target language include science, partial social studies, and connections.

· Why dual-language immersion education?

A large number of studies have shown that the students of the dual-language immersion programs perform as well as or even outperform students of the regular programs on standardized tests. The cognitive flexibility of students with bilingual thinking is much greater than that of non-bilingual students. They also perform better than non-bilingual students in terms of concentration, memory, and problem-solving skills. Not to mention the great career opportunities that will be brought by the high level of Chinese/Korean and English language skills one obtains.

· Why choose Singapore Mathematics?

Singapore students are rated the first place in TIMSS and PISA (internationally authoritative competitions that evaluate students' mathematical abilities). The benefits of the teaching method employed in Singapore mathematics is widely recognized. Singapore Mathematics combines Eastern and Western methods: math problem rote tactics and mathematical practice exploration. Based on the understanding-modeling-problem solving approach, the math problem is demonstrated in a visual form so that the answer can be figured at a glance. Such an approach focuses on both knowledge and the ability to explore and solve problems. YHALE aims to lay a solid mathematical foundation for the students to ensure that students can thrive in any academic paths.

· My child already speaks Chinese or Korean. Why should I send my child to a Chinese-English or Korean-English bilingual school?

A big misunderstanding of language learning is that children can attain a higher level of language proficiency by speaking the mother tongue at home or studying at a weekend language school. To be able to read academic articles, political and economic magazines, do business presentations, lecture, or write research reports in a target language, students need to master a large number of the advanced vocabulary of various subjects, difficult to achieve through "kitchen conversation" at home or learning in a Chinese language class. To use the language at an executive level and truly master intercultural competence, dual-language immersion is the best option.

· My child does not speak Chinese or Korean. Is he/she eligible to apply?

Yes. YHALE's inquiry-based Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM) is a curriculum specially designed for gifted students. It is characterized by teaching students based on each individual’s learning pace. Therefore, YHALE accepts students of different levels of the language in each grade. In addition, Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world, and Korean is the third largest language in Georgia, and considering that a large number of Chinese and Korean companies have settled in Georgia in recent years, giving children an opportunity to be fluent in either of the languages is a very prescient decision.

· Does YHALE charge tuition? Will there be extracurricular activities offered after school?

Like any public school, YHALE is tuition-free. YAHLE offers a variety of extracurricular classes and provides free language support to those students recommended by the teacher.

· Does YHALE only admit students who are residents of Suwanee?

YHALE is a state-wide public charter school that recruits students across the state. No matter where you live in Georgia, you are welcome to apply.

Curriculum Overview:

At YHALE, core subjects such as Math and English language arts are taught in English; science, some content of social studies, the target language and connections, such as STEM, music, art, digital literacy, PE and health education are taught in the target languages. The instructional time between English and the target language is approximately 50% and 50%.

The school ensures that the curriculum aligns with the National Core Curriculum, and the learning objectives of the target language follows the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE), building both knowledge and the target language fluency from year to year. We have a select set of Curriculum Partners, such as the Integrated Curriculum Model, and Singapore Math, who are leading experts nationally and internationally, and who work with us to maintain the highest standards and continually incorporate the latest research.

Our Goals:

At YHALE, the students are

Bilingual and academically strong

Self-motivated

Adaptable and disciplined

Resilient and perseverant

Empathetic and discerning

Service-minded and international-minded