First graders have chance to become immersed in Spanish
Kerr school to serve as site for program
Twenty-five first graders in the Fox Chapel Area School District will have the opportunity next school year to attend the new Kerr school, no matter where they live, and to have nearly all of their classes taught in Spanish.
Signups for the district’s Spanish immersion program run through May 17. Current kindergartners in all of the district’s elementary schools — Fairview, Hartwood, Kerr and O’Hara — are welcome to participate in the program.
Because it will be housed at the new Kerr building on Kittanning Pike during the 2019-20 school year, the 25 students in the program will be transported to the school regardless of where they live in the district. That will become their home school and nearly 100 percent of all classes will be in Spanish.
Special classes, such as art and music, will be in English, along with lunch and recess.
“I’m thrilled it’s finally happening,” said Ashley Constantine, executive director of elementary education and instruction. “It took a lot of hard work to bring it to the district. We wanted to offer a program that was completely unique to Western Pennsylvania that would give our students an edge academically.
“The goals of the Spanish immersion program are to promote high levels of academic achievement, develop age-appropriate language acquisition in both English and Spanish, and to cultivate cross-cultural competencies in our students.”
Ms. Constantine and other Fox Chapel Area administrators began planning the program two years ago.
“As we were developing the new pre-kindergarten program that also will be housed at the new Kerr building, we decided starting a Spanish immersion program at such a young age would give our students a leg up to the future,” Ms. Constantine said. “When these kids are entering the workforce, English will not be the dominant language in the United States, according to demographic trends.
“When these students enter the workforce, they will have a definite advantage if they are fluent in a second language.”
The plan is for these students to continue the program throughout elementary school, spending the majority of their school days listening, speaking and learning core subjects in Spanish. After the pilot year, the program will expand to
first and second graders. Eventually, the program will be first grade through fifth grade.
Alexis Bergau, a second grade teacher at Kerr, will teach the pilot program, the result of a concerted effort of a group of district administrators.
“The reason we are offering the Spanish Immersion program is because Spanish is the second-most widely spoken language in the world,” said Bonnie Berzonski, the district’s communications coordinator. “This is a way to give our students an edge academically. This program also will cultivate cross-cultural competencies.”
Mrs. Bergau has an extensive background in the immersion program. She studied in Mexico, was a student teacher in a school that’s 99% Spanish-speaking and spent the bulk of her career as a teacher at the Ada Vista Spanish Immersion School in Ada, Mich. Since coming to Pittsburgh, she has taught Spanish at Pittsburgh Public Schools and at La Escuelita Arcoiris, an early childhood Spanish immersion school in Squirrel Hill.
To be eligible for admission into the Spanish immersion program, students must meet Fox Chapel Area readiness criteria. In addition, English must be the primary language spoken at home.
A random selection process to fill the 25 seats will be held on June 6. A registration form is avaiable at http://bit.ly/sifcasd. The district’s Spanish immersion website, si.fcasd.edu, will have more information and parents can call Ms. Constantine at 412-967-2455 or send her an email at ashley_constantine@fcasd.edu.