Chinese Immersion School at De Avila
The Chinese Immersion School at De Avila is the latest incarnation of the historic Dudley Stone School, founded in San Francisco, California, in 1896 and surviving the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. The kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school provides instruction in Chinese. The school today Established in 2009, the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila is the fifth of San Francisco Unified School District’s Chinese-Immersion programs. Classes began on August 24, 2009, with two first-grade and three kindergarten classes. Additional upper grade classes were to be added each year until the school becomes a full kindergarten-to-fifth-grade elementary school. Some 80 percent of the instruction is in Cantonese, and a fifth of the school time is devoted to developing English skills. Beginning in the third grade, the students are introduced to Mandarin. The curriculum includes mathematics, science, history, physical education, art, dance and music. History Dudley Stone School Namesake Dudley Stone School was named after Dudley C. Stone, a science teacher and deputy superintendent of the San Francisco City Schools in the 1870s and early 1880s. He was called "one of the pioneer educators of California." Stone was born in Marietta, Ohio, in 1829 and taught in New Orleans, where he was