School leaders see benefits of new bilingual program
Mixes native Spanish speaking with native English speaking
San Rafael City Schools will begin offering a new two-way bilingual immersion program next fall.
The program, the second in Marin public schools involving both native Spanish speaking and native English speaking students, will be launched at Venetia Valley School with at least two kindergarten classes. Enrollment will begin in January.
Improved academic performance, better brain functioning and higher job marketability are a few of the benefits envisioned for students enrolled, educators said.
“It’s equitable, academically rigorous and enriching,” assistant principal Lauren Menchavez told about 30 parents at an online and inperson information session at the school on Thursday. “Our values include the intention of maximizing the potential of tomorrow’s leaders.”
Interested parents may get on a list now to receive updates on the application process, which is still in development, Venetia Valley principal Apolinaro Quesada said. The families commit to staying through fifth grade in the program, after which time both sets of native speakers will be bilingual going into middle school.
“It’s a big misconception,” Quesada said of concern that Latino children will lose spots if White or other native English speaking children are allowed to participate. “Our goal is to increase enrollment at Venetia Valley.”
The school currently has a one-way dual language program that is only for native Spanish speakers. Quesada said the new plan will not result in any losses to that population. Instead, he said, there will be gains for everyone.
“We will be welcoming additional families to participate in the program,” Quesada said. “At no point is this designed to eliminate anyone from the program or to
remove resources from any of our students.”
Quesada said the plan is to enroll 24 children — 12 native Spanish speakers and 12 native English speakers — in each of two kindergarten classes. If there is enough interest, the model could be extended to a first-grade class or to a transitional kindergarten class.
In the dual immersion model, kindergarten classes start out 90% in Spanish and 10% English. The percentages recalibrate each year to add 10% more English at each succeeding grade level, culminating in fourth and fifth grades, where all classes are 50-50 English and Spanish.
“The other advantage of having our students immersed with White students and White students immersed with our Latino students is that we’re not only creating a bilingual child, but we’re also immersing them in the culture and traditions, opening their eyes to the differences and diversity that we see in our country,” Quesada said this week.
At the meeting Thursday, he emphasized that “it’s not a race thing.” He said there are many non-White families that are native English speakers, and are interested in being bilingual Spanish. Having different native speakers in the class helps each group of students learn better.
“The two-way program provides more language models for the kids,” Menchavez said
Concerns also have been raised about current poor reading scores for some San Rafael City Schools elementary grades. Quesada cited studies that indicated the two-way dual language model helps boost academic performance by exposing both native English and native Spanish speakers to cultural and language modeling from fellow classmates.
“There is huge significance of the growing interest in dual language within the county because the program allows students to have access to the same standards as other students while becoming bilingual and bi-literate in both Spanish and English,” said Melissa Diaz, principal at Lynwood Elementary School in Novato, which launched the first successful dual language program in Marin public schools.
The Novato Unified School District program almost got axed in the spring during a controversy over elementary school closures. Parent protests saved the school, and also led to more visibility and interest in the program, according to Diaz.
“There has been interest since the program was on the short list for school closure, as the media coverage helped to inform the greater community about the program and what it offers,” Diaz said. “We currently have two full kindergarten classes, as well as a TK/K combination class — and have already started our virtual school tours with increased parent interest as registration will open soon.”
Venetia Valley student demographics are currently about 80% native Spanish speakers and 20% native English speakers. Menchavez said she doesn’t anticipate any problem filling seats in either language section of the two new kindergarten classes.
“I think there’s a high interest among families already,” Menchavez said. “I think they will be jumping at the opportunity.”
The program has been in planning for at least five years, Menchavez said. The school this year filled all six teacher vacancies with bilingual professionals — including five who are multicultural, Quesada said.
Quesada said first preference would go to families within the Venetia Valley School boundaries, then to those within the San Rafael City Schools boundaries. The district also will consider inter-district transfer requests for students to enroll in the program from other parts of Marin.
“In our global and interconnected world, the ability to communicate with others in multiple languages opens up many doors, not the least of which is to directly learn from others with a different perspective,” Jim Hogeboom, district superintendent, said in an email.
“The world is hungry for multilingual speakers, not only in the field of education, but in all fields, including business, STEM, the military and the social sciences,” Hogeboom said. “It is a competitive advantage that I wish all of our students will obtain.”
Menchavez said research has found significant neurological benefits in bilingual education, including improvement in brain function documented among children who learn two languages at an early age.
The neurological enhancements — particularly with dual immersion — have resulted in better motor skills, stronger mathematical skills and lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease, according to Menchavez.
“We’re not using Spanish to teach English,” she said. “We’re developing a bilingual brain. It improves cognitive benefits by creating mental flexibility.”
According to Quesada, those benefits extend to reading skills.
“We’re not only closing the achievement gap,” Quesada said, referring to those Latino students who are underserved. “They can reach and surpass their peers in terms of English literacy.”
For more information, go to srcs.org/dual-language.