A National City elementary school is bringing Inglés and Spanish into the classroom.
Kimball School Principal Sonia Ruan implemented a new 50/50 dual language program.
She said the “50/50” refers to the percentage of instruction in English and Spanish in the classroom.
A student will get instruction in one language in the morning hours and instruction in the other language in the afternoon.
The program was designed to help Spanish-speaking students do well on the California Standards Test
“What happens is many times our English language learners, they need more time and they are not as prepared, so second- and third-grade scores are lower for second language learners,” she said. “We thought if we just give them both languages, then that way they are supported and able to be successful.”
English-only teachers will provide English instruction and bilingual Spanish speaking teachers will instruct in Spanish.
For its inaugural year, the 50/50 program will start out with kindergarten and first grade. Every year a new grade will adopt the program so that in 2018 the first graders who started the program will be in sixth grade and still in the program.
Parents interested in the program should call (619) 336-8350.
