Glen Arden Elementary
The Spanish Immersion Experience
Kristina Specht , Principal at Glen Arden Elementary
Could you imagine sitting in a kindergarten classroom and not understanding a single word your teacher or instructional assistant was saying ? Could you imagine being so fluent in two languages at the age of 8 that you could go back and forth between those languages all day and not miss a bit of instruction ?
Five years ago Glen Arden Elementary became the first school in Buncombe County to offer families a Spanish Immersion experience . Twenty-four families took a leap of faith and signed their children up to be in the inaugural kindergarten class . Those 24 students , and each class of 24 kindergarten students since then , have been greeted and taught in Spanish since day one . We now have 106 students who are in Kindergarten through fourth grade , performing at or above grade level in Reading in Spanish . Our students in second through fourth grade receive both English and Spanish language arts and are on grade level in each language as well as being proficient in Math and Science .
Our program is effective because highly-qualified native Spanish-speaking teachers from Colombia , Spain , Ecuador , and Honduras teach our immersion classes . Each teacher ’ s visa allows him or her to stay in this country three to five years and since we hire at least one new instructor annually , the countries that they come from may vary from year to year . Our instructional assistants in kindergarten , first and second grades are also native Spanish speakers . As a result , our students are not only immersed in the language but also in the rich cultures and traditions of these countries .
Because the program has been so successful , we now use a lottery system to select students for each incoming kindergarten class . Interested families are invited to attend one of our informational meetings , the next of which is scheduled for April 14 , 2016 in the Glen Arden Media Center .
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