OverviewHudsonWay Immersion School, (www.hwis.org), the first independent immersion school in the NY/NJ metropolitan area, develops the cognitive abilities, character and global skills to enable students to succeed in a fast-changing and interconnected world. HWIS serves students from preschool through Grade 8 providing a full immersion program in two languages – Mandarin/English or Spanish/English enabling students to be become fully bilingual and biliterate. Founder Sharon Huang began the program in 2005 after conducting extensive research on best practices in immersion. Her then 1-year old twin boys were the inspiration for a school that today benefits about 200 students across both campuses. In 2018, the NJ school relocated to a larger campus in Stirling, NJ, and in 2020, NY school expanded to a newly renovated space in Midtown West, NYC. With this increased footprint the school has plans to expand to supporting students from preschool through middle school on both campuses for its Mandarin and Spanish tracks. Head of School, Sue Ha leads a team of about 40 teachers and staff. HWIS has a 15-year track record with data to show that longer time at HWIS results in higher IQ, higher language proficiency compared to other immersion schools, higher performance in standardized tests compared to national norms, and high likelihood of acceptance at top-tier independent schools.