Four New Jersey school districts will share more than $500,000 in grant funds over the next three years under the federal National Security Language Initiative.

East Windsor Regional will create a dual language immersion program in Spanish that includes a summer professional development institute for elementary teachers.

Fair Lawn will begin a Mandarin Chinese program in grade five in each of the its six elementary schools.

Northern Valley Regional High School District will create a Chinese language program aligned with both national and state standards.

Vernon Township will begin language instruction in Mandarin Chinese in the fall of 2007 in kindergarten and in grade nine.

In a related development, the Linden Public Schools recently received $75,000 from the Italian American Committee on Education to expand its Italian language program.