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December 3, 2009

Elementary expands dual language program

By Nathan Straus

nstraus@jacksonvilleprogress.com



Fred Douglass Elementary School expanded its dual language program to encompass an additional pair of kindergarten level classes.

The school now has 12 dual language classes, including four kindergarten classes, as well as two more in each grade from first to fourth.

Principal Amber Penn said the 14-year-old program features both a Spanish-speaking teacher and an English-speaking teacher to better educate students.

“All the students are learning both languages to produce truly bilingual children,” Penn said. “This is something we are very proud of.”

Penn said the students in the program become very successful in language studies, and their overall academics take a boost because of the extra learning.

“Many have gone on to college,” she said. “These students’ academics are very strong.”

Although it is an optional course, Penn said very few students turn down the chance to learn a second language.

“We have not had any who do not want to take the classes,” she said.

One facet of the dual language program’s success is because the best way to learn a second language is to learn it through a first language, Penn said.

“It prepares students for the future,” she said.

JISD Director of Special Languages Rita Rosales said the program may be implemented in a one-way format in the other schools.

“In Fred Douglass, it is two-way,” Rosales said. “English and Spanish are mixed.”

Rosales said the majority of students involved in a one-way language course would likely be Spanish-speaking children learning English.

Many students pass through the program each year, Penn said. This year, it boasts about 80 children in kindergarten, and nearly 44 in each of the four grade levels beyond. Roughly 260 students are enrolled in the optional program this year.

Penn said parents do not have to put their children in the course. However, she encouraged them to do so when the opportunity arises.

“To learn a language, it is better to do it at a younger age,” she said. “This program helps students thrive in a bi-culture society and helps with cognitive thinking. It is important for the future because our society is becoming more diverse.”

Penn said there are not many two-way dual language programs in Texas. She said Jacksonville is lucky to have a school with one.

School officials at Fred Douglass said about 1,100 students have been served in the last five years at an average of 220 per year. The number of students learning two languages in Fred Douglass is likely to increase each year for the next five years as the two extra kindergarten classes will carry over into first through fourth grades.

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