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WEST LIBERTY DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF DUAL LANGUAGE!

PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY

The West Liberty Community School District Dual Language Program believes all students, regardless of culture or language, come to school with assets, that set of unique experiences and skills that when shared with others, enrich the social, cultural, and educational environments of the classroom and the school.

West Liberty Elementary, Middle School, and High School are all International Spanish Academies (ISAs). These Academies employ a bilingual curriculum for all or part of their student body and sign a collaborative agreement with the Ministry of Education of Spain. The International Spanish Academy program is carried out within the framework of cooperative activities organized by the Office of Education of Spain in the U.S. and Canada and North American education authorities. Visit the International Spanish Academy link for more information: http://www.educacion.gob.es/eeuu/en_US/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/isa

West Liberty CSD is a proud member of the ISA program. The International Spanish Academy (ISA) program is an educational outreach initiative of the Ministry of Education of Spain where high-performing schools in the United States and Canada implement a Spanish-English dual language immersion curriculum with the Ministry's support and recognition.

PROGRAM GOALS

Goal 1: To increase the English proficiency of English Language Learners

Goal 2: To Increase Student Academic Achievement

Goal 3: To Assist Students in Becoming Bilingual and Biliterate

ENROLLMENT AND ENTRANCE CRITERIA

  1. Enrollment in the Dual Language Program is optional and begins in Kindergarten.

  2. We will host informational sessions for parents to learn about the program in February. An application will be available for parents to complete if interested. Applications will be due during the first week of April. Following are the steps that will be taken to determine placement into the Dual Language program at the Kindergarten level:

    1. Assign native speakers of Spanish, up to a maximum of 2/3 of the spaces available.

      1. Spanish speakers who are ELLs have priority over Spanish speakers who are not ELLs, and will be placed first.

      2. Siblings of students already in the program will be assigned before students who have no siblings in the program. The sibling rule was put in place as a way to recognize and return the commitment families make to the Dual Language Program. We have found that families with multiple students in the program have a natural support system for their students.

      3. If there are more sibling applicants than there are spaces available, a lottery of sibling applicants will be conducted in order to determine which siblings will be accepted into the program, and which siblings will be assigned to the waiting list.

      4. After assigning siblings, if there are more applicants than there are spaces available, we will conduct a lottery to determine the order of acceptance into the program for the remaining applicants. Then a non-sibling lottery will be conducted and those names added to the waiting list.

    2. Assign native speakers of English to the remaining spaces available.

      1. Siblings of students already in the program will be assigned before students who have no siblings in the program. The sibling rule was put in place as a way to recognize and return the commitment families make to the Dual Language Program. We have found that families with multiple students in the program have a natural support system for their students.

      2. If there are more sibling applicants than there are spaces available, a lottery of sibling applicants will be conducted in order to determine which siblings will be accepted into the program, and which siblings will be assigned to the waiting list.

      3. After assigning siblings, if there are more applicants than there are spaces available, we will conduct a lottery to determine the order of acceptance into the program for the remaining applicants. Then a non-sibling lottery will be conducted and those names added to the waiting list.

  3. When Kindergarten class sections are full, a waiting list will be developed. Students are placed on the waiting list by a lottery drawing. Public notice of the lottery drawing will be given and the drawing will be completed by the Superintendent.

  4. At the discretion of district staff should space be available, English-speaking students may enter the Dual Language Program any time before the end of first grade. English speakers who leave the program will not be replaced by new English speaking students coming into the district after first grade. Should space be available and at the discretion of district staff, exceptions could be made if circumstances indicate the dominant-English speaker has Spanish proficiency skills necessary to be successful in the program. At the discretion of district staff should space be available, Spanish-speaking students new to the district may be admitted in any grade at any time if space if available.

  5. Thoughtful consideration should be given prior to the placement of students with known special needs into the Dual Language Program. The Individual Education Plan (IEP) team and the parents must confer and agree upon placement. It is generally thought best to place a child in the program where his or her dominant language is spoken, for example, dominant Spanish-speakers in the Dual Language Program and dominant English-speakers in the English-only program.