The crackling jubilee of electric firecrackers sounded like the real thing inside the Barnard Elementary School auditorium, where students, teachers, administrators and parents celebrated the start of the Chinese New Year on Thursday, Jan. 29. The festivities marked the Year of the Ox. Despite rumors of the school’s possible closure that have swirled of late around the K-4 campus, Principal Edward Park gave participants yet another reason to celebrate. He announced to parents and teachers that the school plans to add a fifth grade next year. The announcement came as a relief for parent Sabrina Nichols. Nichols said her 4th-grade daughter is still too young for 5th grade at another middle school. Nichols would rather keep her daughter in Barnard’s Mandarin Chinese-language magnet program for another year, she said. “I think the more languages your child can speak, the better. It just helps them out in the world,” Nichols said. Nichols joined other parents that day and watched performances of acrobatic dancers dressed in golden-furred lion costumes twirl across the room. Chinese martial artist Huang Qin fascinated smiling participants with lightning-fast punches and flowing, graceful movements. Even with the elaborate traditional demonstrations, it was Barnard’s students who really stole the show. Fourth-grade students dressed in traditional Mandarin Chinese garb spoke near-perfect Mandarin to the audience. Younger students lined the floor wearing construction-paper hats — glittering representations of the Chinese culture’s traditional astrological signs of dragon, rabbit, rat, tiger and other animals. Each class took the stage with a different song and dance inspired by modern and traditional themes, including a Chinese version of the “hokey pokey.” The performances concluded with everyone in the room singing along with the children a heart-warming song: “One World, One Dream.” After the performances, parents and students gathered at the playground lunch tables for a Chinese-style lunch. Parent Julie Kapelzcak ate at a table with her son, Eddie, who emceed the festivities in Mandarin. Julie said her son has taken an interest in ancient Chinese culture and said he wants to travel to China in the future. It’s not hard to imagine Eddie as a future international leader. That’s what Barnard’s educators aim to accomplish. Now in it’s second year, Barnard’s Mandarin Chinese magnet program prepares students for an international business world where Mandarin Chinese is one of the most spoken languages. Parent Isabela Slojkowski has a daughter in kindergarten and said her daughter is picking up the language quickly. But she said her daughter isn’t the only one in her family learning Mandarin Chinese. “Not only is she learning, but I’m learning Mandarin as well,” Slojkowski said. Students receive 45 minutes of instruction each day in Mandarin language and culture. The district hired teachers Lei Li and Sally Lowe to teach the program. Park said the teachers were hired especially for the magnet program. Kindergarten teacher Karol Singer said students in her class soak up the material. “These children are like sponges,” Singer said. “They learn the language like it’s their first [language].” The Chinese New Year celebration, which follows a lunar cycle, showed off the best of the culture and language program. “I think the kids are enthusiastic about the program,” said Park. “You can see their love of learning. Parents are excited that students are learning a language of investment.”