Immersion education gives students new language
Learning a second language can be a challenge, but it's a little easier when you learn that new language while you are young. That's why language immersion programs are becoming more popular in North Carolina.
The Wake County Public School System has four immersion programs and just announced plans for a fifth.
"The ability to be able to speak a different language is just a great thing to have," said Faith Clarkson, a fifth-grader at Jeffreys Grove Elementary School in Raleigh, which offers a Spanish lanuage immersion program.
Language immersion means every subject from math to social studies is taught in that language. The idea is to give the students a chance to become fluent in the language.
"I took a trip to Spain last summer, and I was there for two weeks and I communicated," said James Maily, a fifth-grader at Jeffreys Grove Elementary.
Jeffreys Grove Elementary and Hodge Road Elementary School offer Spanish language immersion, while Stough Elementary School offers Chinese language immersion. Daniels Middle School houses the Spanish and Chinese middle school immersion programs.
The school district recently announced that Dillard Drive Middle School would begin a Spanish language immersion program next year.
"It's a very sought-after program. It's unique in our system, so there's a high demand, and I'm very happy Wake County is opening another immersion school," Jeffreys Grove Elementary Principal Julieta Ventura said.
The immersion programs, which are housed in magnet schools, are important for Wake County to compete with charter schools and private schools, creating more diverse education opportunities.
"We know that through the brain research students have a greater opportunity to achieve across all subject areas when they are learning a second language from a young age," said Sheri Golden Perry, the school district's director of global programming.
The students study the languages beginning in kindergarten and should be able to carry the language into adulthood, even if they don't continue with immersion at the middle school level, she said.
"You know, these first years in a child's learning are very important, so when you learn a language being so young and you are immersed in it, the retention is there," said Obry Melendez, the district's magnet school coordinator.
The programs are considered magnet programs, and the students are accepted based on a weighted lottery, which takes many factors into account, such is where a student lives within the county.
