Confidence, Community, Culture: Year 1 of the DLI Program

Launched Fall 2025, HKIS’s Dual Language Immersion (DLI) pathway was designed to expand the program offering within the HKIS Chinese Studies program. DLI offers an alternative path to learning, welcoming both non-native and native Mandarin speakers to form a class community that represents the HKIS student body.

In its first year, the program began with 32 students enrolled in two R1 classes, led by homeroom teachers Eunice Shi and Dianna Underwood. Feedback from families was positive. They reported that in addition to seeing increased confidence in their child’s use of Mandarin at home and in the community, they consistently highlighted the strong sense of community, student engagement, and that their children were excited about learning. Through meaningful, real-world experiences like cultural celebrations, field trips, and community-based learning opportunities, the students in the first DLI program developed comfort with “code-switching” between English and Mandarin, and applying their language skills across contexts, demonstrating growing bilingual fluency.

In the coming years, the program will add a new cohort in R1 annually, eventually seeing hundreds of DLI students across R1-G5. The program was made possible through the establishment of the Dual Language Immersion Program Endowed Fund, which provides targeted financial support to meet the needs of this dynamic program. Established by a generous family at HKIS, the DLI Program Endowed Fund welcomes new contributions from visionary parents and alumni who want to support the program’s future success.

Scenes from the DLI Pathway classroom–a morning greeting written in Chinese on the whiteboard and a hands-on activity to explore the shape of characters.