Congratulations to the eight Capistrano Valley students who won medals in the 22nd Annual National Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Students (CLASS) Essay Contest. The students were tasked with writing an original essay completely in Mandarin, with the theme “AI and Me.” Over 700 students from across the country entered the contest, showcasing their critical thinking skills and depth of Mandarin knowledge.   Gold Awards: Joseph Chieng (11th grade) Logan Pe

You helped fight to keep the program, and now we need you to help lead it! Many of our current board members have reached their term limit, so help keep the program thriving by becoming a part of the Friends of MIP Executive Board. Multiple people can share roles Training and transition support provided You don't need to know everything, you just need to care Email president@friendsofmip.com with questions or to express interest Go to our Executive Board Elections page for

Congratulations to our very own Camden Lien 连杰 Emily Duffy 杜如雯 for Chinese Rap: My New Clothes 中文饶舌歌：我的新衣 School: Capistrano Valley High School, California Teacher: Charlotte Komine, Xiaofeng Meiyi Go to https://www.aaiceusa.com/2025-grades-9-12 to watch the video!

Our MIP Ambassadors have kicked off the new year with a strong presence at several community events: Feb. 7 – Lucky Lunar Fest 2026 at Macy's South Coast Plaza Bergeson TK–2nd grade students performed Lunar New Year songs and a special choreographed fan dance for enthusiastic crowds.  View photos and video  from this event. Feb. 7 – Lunar New Year Parade & Festival at Irvine Great Park Bergeson proudly represented CUSD’s TK–12 MIP program in the parade with 50 students, famil

Congratulations to our incredible student artists for their creativity and enthusiasm in celebrating the Year of the Horse!  We had over 100 student entries across Bergeson and Newhart and we asked our MIP community and faculty to vote for their favorite anonymized submissions.  We are proud to announce our winning artists: TK: Camille Wang (1st), Adelyn Chang (2nd) Kinder: Charlotte Wang (1st), Rita Li (2nd) 1st Grade: Jonathan Kuan (1st), Aramis Taghizadeh (2nd) 2nd Grade:.

MIP Ambassador community performances for Lunar New Year - click to expand. Our Lunar New Year planning is ramping up, and we are excited to share that MIP will have representation / performance opportunities at the following events in the community: 2/7  Lucky Lunar Fest  at Macy's South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa, CA) 2/7  Lunar New Year Parade & Festival  at Great Park (Irvine, CA) 2/21  MIP Lunar New Year Showcase  at Shops at Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA) 3/7  Pacific S

Thank you to everyone who joined our FoMIP meeting during last Thursday's Back to School Night at Bergeson! It was amazing to see so many new and familiar faces come support our program. A few items of note: The FoMIP budget for the 2026 - 2027 school year is $274,000. 81% of the budget go to MIP staffing, including teachers' aides and additional classes at Newhart to reduce the student to teacher ratio. Suggested donations for each student to meet this goal: Bergeson - $550,