[에틀랜타 학부모들이 주목하는 교육 비밀]
Parsons Elementary offers the only Korean Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program in Gwinnett County, located in Duluth near Sugarloaf Parkway, with 50% of the school day taught in Korean (math, science, literacy).
Hull Middle School is introducing Korean DLI starting this August, allowing continuity for 5th graders graduating from Parsons.
The program is open to students outside the Parsons Elementary zone, but those within the zone get priority in a lottery-based admission system.
Applications are encouraged by March for the best chance at enrollment; there is typically a waiting list of about 50 students.
Kindergarten is the ideal entry point, but older elementary students can apply if they pass a proficiency screening.
Instruction includes a 50/50 Korean-English split, with Korean used in core subjects and English used for language arts and social studies; middle and high school DLI will shift to advanced language focus.
There is no cost for the program—it is fully funded through public education (property taxes), though transportation is not provided for out-of-zone students.
Sibling and multiple-child enrollment gives priority, meaning if one child is accepted, others have a better chance too.
The program is rigorous and requires strong listening and adaptability skills, but support is available, and withdrawal is possible if needed.
The speaker, Kaz, shares his personal Korean-American background, regrets not continuing Korean language education, and passionately encourages parents to give their children this opportunity.
Are you a Korean that has kids that plan to go to a school and you’re looking for the right school to enroll them in? Well this video is for you because not only am I going to tell you the right school for your child I’ve got a secret to tell you. Are you ready? That secret is there is one dual language immersion program for Korean in Gwinnett County here in the northeast Atlanta metro suburbs And guys this school has got an amazing opportunity for kids to grow in this language because it’s again the only one That school name is Parson’s Elementary located near Sugarloaf Parkway at exit 108 in Duluth Georgia on the northern side of Duluth. What’s amazing about this school is that 50% of the day is being immersed in that language So different classes such as science and mathematics and some reading and writing in Korean are all taught at Parson’s Elementary And I’ve got an even better secret that I’m about to tell you Are you ready for the first time ever starting this coming school year in August Hull Middle School which is the zoned school right after Parsons when fifth graders go off to middle school this one will also have dual language immersion because in the past they didn’t have any. But now they’re offering it. Why? Because it is growing so much at Parson’s that the fifth graders that are going to sixth grade at whole middle school will have the opportunity to learn it and continue the program So this is huge because it’s it’s a pioneer of sorts It’s a first of its kind and again you don’t have it anywhere else in Gwinnett County or even in metro Atlanta In fact I have one client who had their daughter enrolled there and then she had a friend that lived in Tucker who also enrolled their kid to Parsons So yes that’s right You don’t have to be zoned in Parsons to be able to experience this dual language immersion program for your child Now there is a lottery system and I believe it’s about 50 students on the waiting list as far as being able to get admitted to the program If you are zoned for Parson’s Elementary you have first priority If you’re not zoned for Parsons Elementary and you’re registering your child at Parsons you’re a low priority spot So there’s a higher chance that you will be on a waiting list However if you apply early before March so that you can get into the school year in August you have that opportunity The other thing to highlight is that they strongly encourage your child to be enrolled starting in kindergarten Now there are some circumstances where you can admit your child in the middle of the elementary program whether it’s first grade or third grade or fourth grade but they’re going to screen you as in taking a test for your child to test their proficiency level if they’re good for this program or not It is a challenging program but it is one that’s worth taking on And in fact when I went over there the other day and the reason why I’m doing this video is actually because I went over there the other day with my wife She dropped off some synchronized swimming flyers to advertise her summer camp for synchronized swimming which is Atlanta’s first by the way and my wife is Korean and her partner is from Belarus so they speak many different languages and they’re growing over at West Gwinnett Aquatic Center and Parsons is one of the nearby schools that they wanted to advertise to and so they got the green light from Gwinnett County They were able to give all those flyers out to the students so that they know about the summer camp that’s coming up here this summer Now back to Parsons and the dual language immersion program So I went over there I did some digging I met with a lady that was very nice to be able to give me some information And I have a four-page paper on all of the information related to the DLI program So let’s dive in So here you can see Gwinnett County Public Schools dual language immersion program guidelines and parent understandings Just going to go through this and highlight some of the things that are particularly interesting and important to to know about So right there at the top you can see that there are other schools that offer different languages such as Anison Elementary Baldwin Bethesda Camp Creek Ivy Creek all in Spanish Level Creek also Spanish Meadow Creek Spanish Mulberry Spanish and then there you have it Parsons in Korean and then there’s Trip Elementary which is French You can see that there are other DLI programs but most of them are in Spanish Now I remember growing up in Montgomery Alabama we had a very small Korean community In fact uh now it’s grown to be about 5,000 which is a big deal from when I was there back in 1991 when there’s only about 200 Koreans in the entire city So how did it grow so big it’s because of the Hyundai car plant This whole southeastern region continues to grow with the Korean population due to job growth and the appeal to these kind of programs like DLI But what I wanted to say is when I grew up I didn’t have that opportunity They didn’t offer that Now when I went to Auburn University before I ended up moving to Atlanta Georgia for work at Auburn they didn’t offer Korean either but when I left they offered it the year after Go figure the timing was just a little bit off But here you have the advantage Again if you’re a Korean family that’s looking to move say you’re in LA and you’re wanting to move to Atlanta you’re looking for the best school for your child Parsons Elementary is the school for your child If you’re in New York City in Seattle Chicago Dallas Texas wherever you may be and you’re wanting to move here and you want to make sure to maintain your child’s Korean proficiency or just to learn it this is a school for them And one thing I do want to say is that you want to make sure that your child can speak Korean pretty well because this is a program that yes they are teaching the language but the focus isn’t that their proficiency already needs to be at a high level again they’re going to be screened before they can be admitted into this program So it’s more so to just maintain their abilities and then to increase in an advanced level of the Korean language by the by the time they get to middle school or high school So moving on the DLI program is intended for entering kindergarten students as I mentioned before who plan to continue with the program through at least fifth grade Kindergarten registration is a separate process Remember this is a DI program that is optional Can your child attend Parsons and not be in the DI program yes But that registration process for kindergarten is a completely separate thing That is the first step Then the DI program is the second step if you want to go that route Where you can find this school it’s located at gcpsk12.org That’s where you can find the school and start the registration process Once again they’re highlighting that this is a long-term commitment So if you start in kindergarten they want you to be able to go all the way through fifth grade because it is a journey of learning the language in different classroom settings uh with peers with teachers um as well as different subjects So you have a lot of nuanced words a lot of technical words that you’re going to learn and they want you to be able to start from the beginning Now going down to program registration I want to highlight number three It is possible that every student registering for this program will not be accepted due to limited space If more registrations are received and space is available a lottery will be held of all students whose registration forms were received by the registration deadline I want to say that this lottery is going on every year Why it’s that popular In fact when I spoke with the lady at Parson’s the other week the lady told me that each classroom has got about 25 students to one teacher ratio but starting this coming year it is now increasing to 29 students Now I know some people may not like hearing that a classroom is that big but that’s most public schools here in Gwinnett County and in metro Atlanta where you can see the 10:1 student teacher ratio or the 12:1 or the 13 to1 That’s where private school comes into play but we’re not talking about that Now let’s go down to number six Students living in the school’s attendance zone will receive registration priority as I mentioned before And if a student is accepted to the program from outside of the attendance zone transportation will be the responsibility of the parent or guardian You kind of can see it and treat it as if you’re going to send your child to a private school if you’re not zone in Parson’s Elementary School District because they don’t have the school bus going by to pick your kid up So just remember if you do have your child enrolled in the school and you’re not in Parson’s Elementary zone district then you will have to provide transportation Number seven I like to highlight It says “Kindergarten students who have a sibling enrolled in the program receive priority enrollment.” And then in number eight in the cases of multiples such as twins or triplets if one student is selected by lottery to enroll in the program then the multiple sibling receives priority enrollment at the same school If you got more than one child that you’re trying to get into this program all you need is to have one enrolled and automatically the other gets enrolled That’s the beauty of having a family and just having one get enrolled It opens the door to many opportunities Now on the next page page two it says instructional model So what can you expect from a day-to-day basis approach when your child is going to Parson’s Elementary and doing the DLI well here it says in number one GCPS’s 50/50 elementary school model calls for at least 50% of the school day to be spent learning GCPS’s academic knowledge and skills curriculum in the target language So you might be wondering well what is that 5050 split like what 50% of the class is being taught in English and what subjects are being taught in Korean for the other 50% Well number two says it In elementary school a team of two teachers will work together Students will have mathematics science and literacy specific to the target language with one teacher using the target language So again Korean will be mathematics science and literacy will be taught in Korean And literacy has to do with reading and writing skills And then they will have language arts and social studies with the other teacher using English Seems like there’s a lot more that’s being taught in Korean but basically it’s split up with two subjects plus reading and writing and then another two subjects in English Another key feature to highlight is there in that third bullet point It says middle school and on to high school The instruction pivots from 50/50 to more focused instruction in the target language needed to develop advanced language proficiency I also talked about this earlier So again for the first time ever they’re going to be opening up the DLI program to whole middle school And then when those students graduate in 8th grade onto 9th grade to high school the zone school district there is Peach Tree Ridge High School They’re going to be opening up the DLI program there in the near future as well Right now Parsons is the main one but once your child grows up and they go on to middle and high school they’re going to be focusing more on that target language So you could be seeing them learning and speaking and hearing in Korean language for the entire day And then that next bullet point is the best part If you’re wondering well what’s the cost for this program there is no cost It is completely free Once again this is a public school so your property taxes pay for the school so you don’t owe anything Once again though this is an optional program You don’t have to have your kid do this even if they’re going to Parsons It’s just an added benefit in the beauty of living in Gwynette County here where we have such a multicultural and diverse county Now some of you watching this video you may have already been doing your research and you may be thinking well well Tim there is another dual language immersion program school It’s called Hiwong The acronym is Yale And that school does offer Korean language and Chinese Uh the catch is though that is a charter school So I’m talking about Parsons being the only elementary school and the only public school that offers Korean but we do have a charter program with that school Yale that does offer Korean So what I’ve heard from the lady there when I went and stopped by a few weeks ago at Parsons she told me that a lot of times uh if the demand is high and the waiting list is just is already filled up a lot of times they’ll switch between schools and they’ll try their best both schools communicating and coordinating with one another to make sure that all the students that have a desire to learn this language can be entered into the program at one school or the other So if we look at the bottom there where it says what to expect on page two the things to to really hone in on and understand is that this DLI program is not to be taken lightly It is a very challenging program and it’s for a child who is a good listener flexible and able to handle transitions uh who would make a good candidate for this program Poor listening comprehension may not be good candidates for this program So you know just play it by ear and see how your child does over time and you will know And then you can actually withdraw And that’s what’s showing here on the next page page three It says “However a request to enter the formal process for withdrawal from the DLI program will be addressed only after the student has received the support and help that would be offered any child experiencing difficulties So if your child is experiencing difficulties and they notice they’re not going to pull your child out of the program immediately They’re going to work on your child and do everything they can making a concerted effort so that your child can learn the language But if it doesn’t work out you do have the right to be able to withdraw your kid out of the program Now why is this a big thing i think we know why DI is so important and why learning a second language is so important But we here have the evidence as far as different doctors and people who have studied about different languages they know the importance of it And so here you see on the bottom of page three it says some of the things that these doctors have researched as far as uh the support for why dual language immersion is so vast and so uh helpful for a child is that it enhances cognitive skills and it improves academic performance and it narrows the achievement gap And then on the last page there it is a higher second language proficiency if you are learning at a younger age And then it’s an enhanced global citizenship Now I just want to share a minute about myself and how this program means so much to me and how I am so proud to live here where this program is offered First off we’re considering sending our child when he gets to the age to be able to enroll in the DLI program at Parsons Secondly I know how important it is because I look at my own life So I’m half Korean and I’m half Caucasian I grew up in a household where I could have learned a language and my mom actually sent me to Korean language school when I was 5 years old in Montgomery Alabama Yes they actually had a Korean language school uh where I could have learned at the different classroom settings there But I was stubborn So but I realized looking back man I wish I kept going And in fact if my mom pushed me and pressured me to learn I’d probably be pretty angry But as I grew grow older I would look back and say you know what thank you mom for not giving up on me on that But I completely understand what she did in the end which was okay I see that you’re stressed out I see it’s not fun I’m going to pull you out of that class And so that’s what she did Later I grew up and around 16 17 years old I had this I guess you could say um a desire to learn more about my Korean heritage my Korean side I started to embrace it more And I ended up going uh in 2006 to AIP Asan inter international program It was a one-mon study abroad program that my school at Auburn uh had a connection to with USAN Teak So University of Usan which is like a the southernmost city next to Busan in South Korea I fell in love with Korea I fell in love with the language I vowed to myself I’m going to go back to Korea to live and to work and hopefully master the language What did I do i did exactly that Well I didn’t master the language but I did go back So in in 2010 after I graduated from Auburn I went over to Korea to teach English One year turned into two two turned into three and then all of a sudden I find myself there for five and a half years And Korea was an amazing experience I have to save that for another video But what I can say is that I wish I learned the language and became fluent And for three big reasons Number one so that it would increase my job opportunities by being able to speak two languages two being able to have more respect and understanding for Korean culture and understanding my Korean mom’s background and especially getting to know her family by being able to communicate with them And three being able to communicate with my wife better who is also Korean in her family So really it kind of ties into number two And there’s probably a lot of other reasons that are more subtle that I can’t really speak off the top of my mind And some of you may be already thinking as you’re watching this video man I wish I had learned a language too So why not have that opportunity for our children and Parson’s Elementary is that opportunity here in Atlanta Georgia Gwinnett County specifically in Duluth Again if you’ve been watching my videos you know I’ve been covering a lot of content on the Korean culture here because of my background and the passion that I have and just letting people know about what is here and what is available So if you’re looking to move to Georgia you want to know more information about the housing market here you need help in finding a home and purchasing a home I can be your agent Give me a call text email however you want to get a hold of me Can’t wait to hear from you and I’ll catch you on the next video.
