The Tracy Unified School District is offering its first Mandarin Chinese course for students in ninth to 12th grades starting Feb. 23.

An informational meeting about the pilot program begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at West High School, 1775 W. Lowell Ave., according to a press release from Tracy Unified.

The course costs $90, and a minimum of 15 students must enroll for it to be held. The class will meet at West High from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday for 12 weeks beginning Feb. 23.

The district has not approved the course for high school credit. However, students who successfully complete a phonics test will be issued a certificate of completion at the end of the course, the release states.

Studies will cover “basic Chinese characters, simple phrase, sentence structure, grammar and usage, which emphasizes accurate pronunciation.” An introduction to Chinese culture, customs and traditions is also included.

Chen-Chen Lui is slated to teach the course. Lui has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chinese language and literature from Soochow University in Taiwan.

She also earned a Master of Arts degree in elementary education from Syracuse University and a Master of Arts in linguistics, teaching English to the speakers of other languages, from San Jose State University.

For information: Carol Anderson-Woo, 830-3275 or cwoo@tusd.net.