Based on age and academic level, students are placed in one of 16 different classes, including Bo Po Mo and Pin Yin (two basic Chinese phonic systems). The school is organized on a two-track system: an "A" track for children who speak Mandarin Chinese at home, and a "B" track for those whose home language is English.

In the "A" track, the emphasis is on Chinese character recognition, reading and writing as well as speaking Mandarin. Instruction is conducted using Mandarin Chinese. The "B" track focus is on spoken Chinese language, though reading and writing Chinese characters is also taught.

Students can study the Chinese language up to the 12th grade level. Classes are accepted for course credit at most LAUSD high schools.

2008-9 marks the four year of our Adult Chinese Language Conversation class.

Throughout the school year, students are encouraged to participate in a number of academic and Chinese cultural competitions, including contests in Chinese character calligraphy, poster design and story telling.

Each school year begins in early September and runs through June. Classes meet every Saturday morning from 8:45 to 11:45 with two recess breaks, the second of which features a delicious Chinese meal. Extra-curricular Chinese cultural activities including: Chinese traditional dance, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese martial arts, and more meet from 11:45 to 12:45.

Westside Chinese is an active member of the Southern California Council of Chinese Schools. To learn more, contact school principal, Ashley Wang at
Email: for information

Letter From Principals

Dear parents and students,

We hope you have had a great summer. It's time for a new start - our 2011-2012 school year will begin this Saturday, September 17 at 8:45 AM! We are very exciting and looking forward to seeing you all again, or for the first time!

School address:

Our school is at the campus of Mar Vista Elementary School located at 3330 Granville Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

Parking:

The class starts at 8:45 AM. Because we expect many parents will park their car in order to accompany their children to the classrooms, please plan to arrive at least 15 to 30 minutes before 8:45to find a parking space. Please minimize the disturbance to the neighbors of the school, such as talk quietly and no honking.

Teaching team:

This year we have three new teachers. Teacher Christy Yi-Chun Shu will be teaching 1C class. Teacher Angela Yu Gong will be at 5A class, and Teacher Daisy Xiao lin Wang at 7A class. These teachers are new to our school, but have experienced in teaching Chinese and are valuable addition to our excellent teaching team!

The following teachers have moved to a new class. Teacher Joanne Chiung wen Tsai will be teaching 3B/4B class using Go Chinese IQ 200 material. Teacher Ya-Ren Sheng will move up to 6B class teaching Go Chinese IQ 400.

The following six teachers were nominated by our school and selected by Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, R.O.C. for teaching Chinese overseas for more than 10 years with excellent performance. We congratulate and thank these teachers for their contribution to our school!

Rosie Fang (4A), Angela Fang(Practical Chinese), Lee-Yeh Wang (8A/9A), Joanne Chiungwen Tsai (3B/4B),Huei-Chung Jaw (10A/11A/12A), and Virginia Hu (Cultural teacher)

Learning tracks:

If you have a child new to our school, we have two tracks of beginner classes. A track is for families speaking Chinese at home, i.e., heritage learners, which is our PA class. B track is for families without Chinese language background, i.e., second language learners, which are our PB and PC classes. PB is for students who will turn 6 years old by the end of Nov. 2011. PC class is for younger beginners. Both tracks teach traditional and simplified Chinese words, and Zhu yinand Pinyin phonic systems. Students can choose their preferred version to practice. We also have a class for adults and teens to learn basic Chinese.

Classes:

We have some changes in classes.

1. Students who were in 1C last year will be in 2B this year, along with students who move from 1B last year to2B.

2. We will not have 7/8/9B this year. Instead, students will be in 7A class learning Meizhou Chinese Level 7.

3. Students who were in 9A/10A class last year will move to 10A/11A/12A class, along with students from 11A last year.

4. We are opening a new class called" Practical Chinese" to teach high school students to apply their Chinese skills in projects. High school students who were in 7A or 7B and above classes last year in our school may opt to attend this class upon school's approval.

Extracurricular classes:

We offer extracurricular classes, such as Chinese painting, Chinese dancing, Chinese music, KungFu, handcrafts, school newspaper Westside Breeze, and chess. This year we have three new classes: Chinese cooking, Chinese culture, and book club. The fee for the classes $125 per year. Please sign up in the first two weeks of school. The EC class will start on the third week, Oct. 1.

Class hours:

The class hours are 8:45 AM to 11:45AM. Extracurricular class is from 11:45 to 12:45 PM.

Snack:

In the second recess (10:40 to 11:00AM) we offer Chinese snacks, such as fried rice, noodle, dumplings etc. for$1/dish. Please purchase tickets at the cafeteria area for snacks.

School supplies:

Each student should bring his/her own school supplies and water. We are not to touch or use any supplies from Mar Vista Elementary School.

Classroom use policy:

After Chinese class time, each classroom should be returned to its original layout. Our students are prohibited from eating in the classroom and from leaving any food trash in the classroom. Students should avoid messing the belongings in the classroom.

Volunteering:

We are a volunteer-run school and so we need every family to spend 20 hours or more per year to help run our school. The activities may include TA in class, preparing documents for teachers, helping with performance programs, helping with school carnivals, or operating the school. We need volunteers for traffic control, office work, printing, water distribution, event preparation and organization, snack serving, textbook distribution, fundraising, and library book organizing. We also welcome new members in academic committee, carnival committee, or form new committees. If you are interested in organizing extracurricular activities, or a school-wide camping, please let us know! The volunteer signup sheet is in the office.

School regulations:

School regulations will be distributed by teachers to each student. Parents need to sign a copy of the regulation for each student, and return to the class teachers.

Textbook and workbook:

Textbook and workbook will be distributed to each student in classroom. Please initial to acknowledge the receipt. If you have registered before Sep. 1, you will get textbook and workbook on the first day of school. Families that register later than Sep. 1 will receive the books when they are available. Textbooks are also available for sale if we have extra supplies.

If you are interested in teaching Chinese:

We welcome parents to serve as a substitute teacher if you are qualified. Please contact Shinyi Wu, Vice Principal for Academic Affairs if you are interested.

Tuition and fees:

The tuition is $650 for the entire year (30 weeks) per student. The tuition is fully refundable by October 31,2011, and 50% refundable between November 1, 2011 and January 31, 2012. No refundable after that. In addition, each family needs to deposit $200 for their20 hours of service points (refundable after service requirement is met, or can be carried to the next year). New family has a $100 non-refundable registration fee. Students can also join the school in the second semester in the month of January. The tuition is $450. The first day of class is Jan. 7, 2012. However, we strongly recommend fall start to avoid missing 11 classes.

Check deposit:

The tuition and fee check will be deposited in October, after we close the registration.

Sincerely yours,

Ashley Wang, Principal of Westside Chinese School

Shinyi Wu, Vice Principal of Academic Affairs

Naomi Kageyama, Vice Principal of General Affairs