Students at NJ school learn 3 languages, STEM

NEW JERSEY (FOX 5 NEWS) - Toddlers are speaking Spanish and Mandarin and others are learning science and technology at one local preschool that is breaking barriers and creating successful students. It has educators from around the world coming through its doors to learn how.

Kids at the Early Childhood Center Public School in Union City, New Jersey, don't speak just English. They speak Spanish and Mandarin as well.

These are 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds from families who are becoming literate in their native languages and English at the same time. They also learn science, tech, engineering and math.

The Early Childhood Center, which started 10 years ago, has become a model for schools in the U.S. and abroad. The New York City Department of Education has toured the school along with educators from Chicago, Florida, Minnesota, Canada and Norway because the children who are educated in this program have gone on to become successful students in the Union City school district.

Last year, the district's graduation rate was 87 percent in a low-income community where most of the students live in Spanish-speaking homes. When they entered the preschool program, most could not speak English.