After a Feb. 11 public study session regarding dual language programs, the Santa Maria-Bonita School District board voted unanimously to move forward with a pilot program at “School No. 20,” the district’s newest school (it hasn’t been named yet).
The question of when and how that will happen has yet to be determined, but the board’s decision makes it easier for the dual immersion task force—that’s worked on this issue since 2011—and the district to start looking at the realities of what it would take to start such a program.
A dual immersion or dual language program boils down to teaching two languages, in this case Spanish and English, to students starting in kindergarten. With these programs, students are submerged in the language, not just taught to understand the words. They’re immersed for at least half of their day, five days a week, through math, history, constant conversation, and interaction.
Before the board made its decision, Mary Jacka from the Center for Rural Legal Assistance in Santa Maria spoke: “It’s urgent that the board acts quickly so that all these issues can get worked out,” she said. District Superintendent Phil Alvarado also spoke in support of making a decision that night.
“I truly support the implementation of a dual immersion program. … [It’s] in the best interest of our students and this community and an opportunity we can build on,” he said during the board meeting. “The board has the ability to take action tonight. … Make the next steps.”
Some of the issues discussed by the board include deciding which model of dual immersion will work best for Santa Maria-Bonita, how to gauge parent commitment, dealing with attrition from the program as students get older, how to continue a program after elementary school, and how to pay for the program.
There are two models on the table—90:10 and 50:50. Each class of students has two teachers, in the case of Santa Maria-Bonita’s pilot program; one would be dedicated to teaching in English and the other to Spanish. In the 90:10 model, 90 percent of class is spent solely in the target language, and 10 percent of class would be taught in the other language. That’s starting in kindergarten, and as the students move through the grade levels, it would progress toward 50:50. Eventually students would spend half their class time immersed in one language and half in the other. The 50:50 model starts out with half and half.
“It’s a great opportunity for Spanish speakers, and it’s a great opportunity for English speakers,” said Richard Ruiz, who is the principal of the new school. “It’s a very exciting time. Implementing this program is going to open so many doors for so many students.”
Ruiz said he understands the benefits of being bilingual because he’s bilingual and he sees “School No. 20” as the perfect place to put a dual immersion pilot program. The district’s curriculum director, Olivia Bolaños, also sees the school as a great place to start the district’s dual immersion program.
She said it’s a great way to set the culture at the new school, and in turn, lessen the pressure a Spanish speaker feels to forget their native language in favor of English.
“A child should be able to learn a language without losing their native one,” Bolaños said.
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2015.