Updated January 26, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Pre-kindergarteners present a short play in English and Spanish at Law Elementary.
As kindergarteners and second-graders at Law Elementary School were presenting short plays in English and Spanish to showcase the success of the dual language program at that school, it was hard to tell who was a native speaker and who wasn’t.
Pre-kindergarteners Olivia and Matias announce a play in English and Spanish at Law Elementary School, as the school’s dual language specialist Cristina Chumillas looks on.
The expansion of the program to 21 more campuses next fall will bring the total number of dual language schools in HISD to 52.
Farhan Shah is the director of global education, a newly created position at the school district.
He said the goal is to add even more schools over time.
“The vision of the superintendent is that every student that graduates from an HISD school is bilingual, bi-literate and bi-cultural as a minimum expectation,” Shah said.
Students that participate in the program are taught part of the day in English and the other part in another language.
At Law Elementary, pre-K students learn 80 percent in Spanish and 20 percent in English, “and it then graduates towards 50-50 as they go from grade to grade,” Shah said.
HISD says students who are learning in two languages generally outperform their peers in standardized tests and college readiness exams.
The 21 new dual language schools include:
- Laurenzo Early Childhood Center
- Browning Elementary
- Burrus Elementary
- Cage Elementary
- Condit Elementary
- Davila Elementary
- De Zavala Elementary
- Durham Elementary
- Elrod Elementary
- Franklin Elementary
- J. R. Harris Elementary
- Highland Heights Elementary
- Hobby Elementary
- Love Elementary
- Mading Elementary
- C. Martinez Elementary
- Patterson Elementary
- Robinson Elementary
- Roosevelt Elementary
- Scarborough Elementary
- Wainwright Elementary
Editor’s Note: The percentage of Spanish and English instruction has been changed from an earlier version of this story to accurately reflect the actual instruction percentages. We regret the error.