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Orion Alternative School in Redwood City recently garnered top honors for its programs, particularly the popular Mandarin-language immersion offering.
Orion nabbed a gold award from Bay Area Parent magazine for being among the best public or charter schools on the Peninsula for 2025. The award noted that Orion houses the Mandarin Immersion program for elementary students.
The magazine also listed Orion MI itself as taking gold this year for being among the best language-immersion schools in the region.
The awards come as the Redwood City School District board in May approved expanding the Mandarin program following the urging of families amid ongoing demand.
The approval called for the program to expand to three transitional kindergarten (TK) classrooms in the current 2025-26 academic year. The district could also add a third kindergarten class in 2026-27, depending on enrollment.
The district’s Mandarin program began in 2015-16 with one class of 26 students and has grown to about 300 children in TK-through-eighth grade across the Orion and Kennedy Middle School campuses.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to hear about the gold award for Orion Mandarin Immersion though I can’t say I’m surprised,” parent Michelle Stroebe told the Pulse. “Orion Alternative School and the MI program, in particular, are truly exceptional.”
Her young daughter just started MI this school year, Stroebe said, “and even in that short time, I’ve been deeply impressed by the strong sense of community built by the parents, staff and administration. The commitment to bilingual education is clear in everything they do.”
Stroebe described the principal and teachers at Orion as “incredibly engaged” with the community. “They send out weekly updates and newsletters, offering not only classroom insights but also practical tips for both Mandarin and non-Mandarin speaking families to support learning at home,” she said.
Another parent, Meghan O’Reilly-Green, believes that more people in Redwood City – particularly low-income families – should learn about and take advantage of the program.
“This is a really amazing program,” O’Reilly-Green said. “There are many in Redwood City who don’t know about it or don’t immediately recognize it as a good fit.”
The program at Orion aims to have students speak proficiently in both Mandarin and English. “The program combines rigorous language instruction with strong academic learning, preparing students for continued success as they transition to Kennedy Middle School,” district spokesperson Jorge Quintana told the Pulse.
The district also offers the Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School, which took silver from the magazine in the language category, and the Bilingual Instruction Program at Garfield, Hoover and Taft schools.
“Our district has long been known as a leader in language acquisition, serving as a demonstration site for other educators from throughout the state and nation to learn from our bilingual and immersion programs,” Quintana said.
Another district school, Kennedy, is also a gold winner this year from the magazine, ranking among the top public or charter middle schools on the Peninsula.
“These honors reflect the dedication of our entire team in creating safe, supportive and inspiring spaces for every learner,” district Superintendent John Baker said in a statement.Each year, Bay Area Parent invites readers to share their nominations for standout schools, shops and services across the Bay Area, and the results are listed in the magazine’s “Best of the Best” issue.
