Dual Language Immersion (DLI) is a language acquisition program that provides integrated language learning and academic instruction for native speakers of English and native speakers of Spanish, with the goals of high academic achievement, first and second language proficiency, cross-cultural understanding, and socio-cultural competencies.

At our DLI school, children in PK-6 grade have 2 primary homeroom teachers - one Spanish-speaking and one English-speaking teacher. Students will have both teachers equally at 50% each throughout the year, commonly called a 50/50 program. At the Bilingual Center, our students alternate homerooms every day and have a "group name". For example, Ms. Nieves may have the "butterfly group" on A/C/E days and then have the "tigres group" on B/D/F. Her partner teacher, Ms. Setlock would have the "butterflies" on B/D/F, while she has the "tigres" on A/C/E.

In Grades 7-8, students follow a traditional middle school schedule where every class has its own teacher. All classes are taught in English, with Spanish supports such as translated books or teacher aides when available. Our 7th and 8th grade students also earn Home Language Arts credits, as they are taking a literature-based class taught in Spanish by the HLA teacher instead of a traditional Spanish I class.

Children can learn to read and write in many languages all at once. Be patient as your child learns in 2 languages. It is common for bilingual children to blend grammar rules or use both languages in a sentence to explain themselves. It takes 3-5 years for children to develop basic social language and up to 7 years to develop strong, academic language skills like reading and writing about science and math.