For more than 15 years, Deer Valley Unified School District has been known for its successful Mandarin Chinese Immersion programs offered at two specialty schools, but now the future of one of the programs appears dim.
Dual-language immersion programs where students receive equal daily instruction in half English and half Mandarin from kindergarten through eighth grade are currently offered at Gavilan Peak School in Anthem and Desert Sage School in Glendale. After eighth grade, many students go on to continue their Mandarin experience at Boulder Creek High School, the feeder school for Gavilan Peak.
This year, several Boulder Creek students received awards in the Arizona Chinese Speech Contest, hosted by Arizona State University. Genevieve Curtis and Dillon Andrew won first place, while Clarissa Wen, Allison Eng, and Porter Kooyman won second place, and Hannah Bennet won third place.
In the Arizona Chinese Speech Contest, hosted by Arizona State University, BCHS students Genevieve Curtis and Dillon Andrew won first place, while Clarissa Wen, Allison Eng, and Porter Kooyman won second place, and Hannah Bennet won third place.
Now, the once popular program at Gavilan Peak School which attracted students both in and out of the district to open enroll, is in jeopardy of being phased out beginning with the 2025-26 school year out due to declining enrollment.
In order to offer the program, the district needs 23 kindergarten students to enroll at the kindergarten level. “We can combine kindergarten with first grade if we’re a little short,” DVUSD Superintendent Dr. Curtis Finch said of any chance of keeping the program intact at Gavilan Peak.
As of this writing, DVUSD spokesperson Kayla Pologa told Valley Vibe only six kindergarten students have enrolled for fall 2025. And, according to an information sheet issued by DVUSD, unless the enrollment threshold is met before the start of the 2025-26 school year, the program will begin to be gradually phased out one grade level at a time, making 2034 the last eighth grade graduating class out of Gavilan Peak.
Finch attributed the decline in enrollment to the aging out of the Anthem community. Overall, school enrollment has been on the decline at many of the Anthem schools as the brunt of the growth in the district has taken hold along the I-17 corridor between Carefree Highway and Happy Valley Road. Other contributing factors according to the district include the availability of Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) vouchers, an increase in homeschooling, and area charter school options.
Overall enrollment numbers show Gavilan Peak’s decline from 533 students registered in 2023-24 to 461 registered in 2024-25. DVUSD’s most recent demographer’s report shows Gavilan Peak’s enrollment further decreasing annually, projected to dip to 429 by 2030.DVUSD’s full immersion Mandarin program will continue to be offered at Desert Sage Elementary School in Glendale.
By Karen Goveia
[email protected]