News @ Little Tiger

Each school year, Little Tiger students take the NWEA MAP Growth assessment in fall, winter, and spring. Subject areas include Math (G1–5), English Reading (G1–5), and English Language Usage (G2–5).

In Spring 2025, Little Tiger’s School Achievement Percentiles (by grade and subject) ranked in the 99th percentile in 13 of 14 categories and the 98th percentile in the remaining category.

For those unfamiliar, MAP is a computer-adaptive assessment aligned to national norms and state standards. The results help our team understand achievement and growth over time and support our goal of providing a differentiated learning experience for each student.

As a full Chinese immersion school, these results are especially meaningful. MAP is administered entirely in English, while the majority of our instruction—including core subjects like Math—is in Chinese.

Note: A School Achievement Percentile compares each grade’s average MAP score to the national distribution of school grade averages; it is not an individual student percentile.

Little Tiger was recently honored to host a five-member faculty delegation from National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). The in-person visit culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), formalizing an expanded partnership between Little Tiger and NTNU.

NTNU is widely regarded as Taiwan’s flagship teacher-education university, and it ranks among the world’s top institutions for Education and Educational Research. For several years, Little Tiger has collaborated with NTNU through our Visiting Intern Teacher Program, which brings cohorts of emerging educators to Austin to learn in our immersion classrooms. This year we formalized that work with two MOUs: one signed in March (Taipei) with NTNU’s Department of Child & Family Science (Early Childhood) and another signed in August (Austin) with the School of Teacher Education (Elementary). What this means for Little Tiger:

• NTNU intern teachers placed in ECD and Elementary classrooms
• On-campus teaching labs and cultural workshops led by NTNU teams
• Support for LT student experiences in Taiwan
• Collaborative research in Chinese immersion education

We’re grateful for NTNU’s support and for the opportunities this partnership creates, enriching the preparation of aspiring Taiwanese educators and the daily learning of our students.

As we close out the 2024–25 school year, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the great initiatives our PTO spearheaded.

With the PTO’s leadership and support, we resurfaced the basketball court, added turf to the soccer field and courtyard, and installed new courtyard shade structures. The PTO also launched a hot-lunch program, bringing Barnison Catering to campus.

We’re grateful for the PTO leadership’s energy and ideas, and for the generous support of our parent community, which made these projects possible. Thank you, PTO and LT Parents!

Several upper elementary students recently competed in the 2025 National Chinese Speech Contest, hosted by the American Academy of International Culture and Education.

With more than 1,000 submissions nationwide, Little Tiger students earned several high honors:

• Second Place and Third Place in the World Language Group
• Three Honorable Mentions in the World Language Group
• Three Honorable Mentions in the Heritage Group

One G5 Little Tiger student was also selected as the elementary representative to deliver remarks at the closing ceremony. Congratulations to all participants, and thank you to our teachers and families for their support!

In April, Little Tiger students participated in the Spring 2025 Noetic Math Contest, a nationwide problem-solving challenge for elementary and middle school students. Eleven Little Tiger students earned National Honorable Mention. Six received National Honor Roll medals, with honorees representing every grade from G2 through G5.

We’re proud of every student who took on this challenge and grateful to our math teachers and families for their guidance and encouragement. We look forward to competing again in the fall semester.

In March, Little Tiger’s Grade 5 students traveled to Taiwan for a Capstone experience. Preparation began well before departure with virtual meet-ups and remote collaborations. Once in Taiwan, students experienced the daily rhythms of our partner school, participating in classes, collaborative projects, and after-school life with Taiwanese friends.

Beyond campus, students applied their Chinese in real-world contexts, from navigating the Taipei MRT to visiting landmarks, shopping at neighborhood markets, and joining local outings.

The Taiwan Capstone is the culmination of years of immersion: a purposeful, age-appropriate challenge that helps students build confidence, make new friends, deepen cultural understanding, and see how language opens doors to new experiences.

The 2024 National Chinese Expo of Student Works features 16 different projects by Little Tiger students and staff in the K-G2 and G3-5 categories.

The expo is organized by the American Academy of International Culture and Education (AAICE), whose mission focuses on connecting Chinese and American cultures through innovative teaching, educator training, and global learning opportunities.

Thanks to AAICE for organizing this event, and congratulations to our students and teachers!

View student works: K-G2 and G3-5.

Two members of our ECD team recently attended the Reggio Emilia International Study Group in Italy! Their cohort at the weeklong workshop included early childhood educators and leaders from around the globe.

Continuing education and professional development are integral to our mission. We are excited to deepen our understanding of the Reggio Emilia approach and explore creative ways to integrate its principles into our daily practices.

In early May, our team had the pleasure to attend Asia Society’s 17th National Chinese Language Conference (NCLC), as well as the 7th Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Forum (ECCIF) at Chinese American International School. While there, we met leaders of peer immersion schools and learned about different ways that educators can take advantage of transformative AI tools. We also facilitated a round-table discussion, focusing on our international collaboration with NTNU and Renwen School in Taiwan.

In between the conferences, we visited a few Chinese Immersion Schools in the Bay Area.  At Yu Ming Charter School—the first K-8 Mandarin immersion charter in California—we were happy to see that their team has been using the “Diving into Chinese” books developed at Little Tiger as their core reading curriculum.

It was an energizing week meeting and learning from the many educators from around the country. We look forward to participating again next year!

Little Tiger is proud to be collaborating with National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) on a new overseas education internship program. The program aims to help NTNU students explore innovative teaching methodologies – specifically around integrating immersive language learning techniques into their teaching practices.

“Understanding how LT School promotes Chinese immersion in the United States can offer valuable insights for the development of bilingual teaching models for young children in Taiwan.”

Internship Program Director and Assistant Professor, Emily Yip, from the School of Teacher Education

Learn more about NTNU interns’ experiences at Little Tiger.

Seven of our elementary students’ works were selected as part of the National Chinese Expo of Student Works by the American Academy of International Culture and Education (AAICE).

More than four thousand students’ works were submitted across the U.S. and Canada. Congratulations to our students for the recognition!

View all featured student works.

Little Tiger is now dual-accredited by Cognia as both an Early Learning Institution and School.

Cognia, formerly AdvancED, nationally recognizes districts that meet rigorous standards focused on productive learning environments, equitable resource allocation that meets the needs of learners, and effective leadership.

Earning accreditation from the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission means that the school is accredited, and that Little Tiger is recognized across the nation as a school that meets Cognia Standards of Quality, and maintains a commitment to continuous improvement.

More about Cognia accreditation.

In April 2022, the Asia Society’s Center for Global Education released a paper titled “A Blueprint for Chinese Immersion Preschools in the United States: Imagining the Possibilities”. Little Tiger is one of six schools nationally who provided classroom photos to illustrate the text, which “offers a blueprint of how to provide high-quality English and Chinese immersion preschool experiences for all children.”

Learn more about the Asia Society Center for Global Education

The new 735-sf structure, tucked inconspicuously behind the renovated Hyde Park bungalow, is a play on the historic American one-room schoolhouse: a gable form, rectangular in plan, with a single classroom space and a vertically protruding clerestory. The design’s low eaves make the building feel more approachable to its primary inhabitants — children under four feet tall. “The thing that was surprising for me was how that little twist made building something so familiar feel very unfamiliar and new”, says Murray Legge, FAIA.

Sophie Alice Hollis for Texas Architect