District Awarded Grant to Expand Dual Language Program

Wenatchee School District was awarded $15,800 to expand the Dual Language Program. Wenatchee currently has a dual language immersion program at Lewis & Clark Elementary School, and a dual language class at Foothills Middle School. Once those students reach the high school they can take upper level Spanish classes as freshmen.

Cynthia Valdez, Assistant Director of Special Programs, says the grant funds will be used to improve the programs in place. “This means a bit of restructuring to match current research, and professional development to make it happen,” says Valdez. “We are also using funds to purchase some instructional materials to support the students in the program.”

In Wenatchee’s Dual Language classrooms half the day is taught in English and half the day is taught in Spanish. At Lewis & Clark, students who speak English at home and students who speak Spanish at home are in the same reading class. “They study a unit in English and then bridge the learning to Spanish,” explains Valdez. “The next week they study a unit in Spanish and bridge their learning to English.  We are already seeing great results in the way of participation and effort, and achievement.”

The grant came through OSPI’s K-12 Dual Language Grant Program, a program funded by Washington’s OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) and the Professional Educator Standards Board for their Bilingual Educator Initiative. 

OSPI Superintendent Chris Reykdal pointed out, in the grant news release, that a 2015 study by Georgetown University’s Medical Center found, “people who speak two languages have more gray matter in the executive control region of the brain,” the region that helps with organizing tasks and regulating behavior. “There is a need for all students to learn two languages,” Reykdal said. His vision for Washington education is to have all students learning a second language beginning in kindergarten, if not earlier.

“Students in dual language programs that are correctly executed show higher level achievement scores than their peers who learn only one language,” says Valdez. Wenatchee’s goal is “to continue working toward a world-class program that honors speaking at least two languages as an asset and valuable contribution.”