District 158 to launch dual language program this fall

Beginning this fall, three Huntley-area elementary schools will offer dual language classes for some kindergartners and first-graders.

Huntley Community School District 158 is adding kindergarten dual language classrooms at three of its five elementary schools - Chesak in Lake in the Hills, Leggee in Huntley, and Mackeben in Algonquin - and two first-grade dual language classrooms at Chesak.

Additional grades will be added each year until full implementation of the program through fifth grade, said Rocio Del Castillo, District 158 director of curriculum and instruction.

"The goal for the dual language program is we want our District 158 students to have the opportunity to become bilingual and biliterate," said Castillo, who joined the district this year.

Castillo previously worked as coordinator for second language learning at West Chicago District 33, where she helped implement a districtwide dual language program.

"For our bilingual students, that's the way the district is going to provide bilingual services, and it's also an enrichment program for our English-speaking students," she said. "We are going to have a two-way immersion model."

Classes will be split between native Spanish speakers and English-speaking students. Both groups of students will serve as role models for their native languages, Castillo said.

District 158 will use the 80:20 learning model that Elgin Area School District U-46 has had for many years. Eighty percent of classroom instruction is in Spanish and 20 percent in English. As students move up in grades, English instruction increases by 10 percentage points per grade until both languages reach parity by third grade.

Officials project having six dual language classrooms this fall with 120 students.

District 158's English Language Learner population is around 10 percent and the number of bilingual students is increasing each year. There also has been tremendous interest among native English speakers for learning Spanish, Castillo said.

"Our English-speaking families have been waiting for this initiative for a long time," she said. "They are receiving dual language with open arms."

Students identified as English Language Learners who qualify for bilingual instruction will be placed in the program automatically, while native English speakers will be selected by lottery for remaining spots. The lottery will take place a week after kindergarten registration the first week of June.

The district will host information nights for families of incoming kindergartners interested in the program from 7 to 8 p.m. March 22 at Mackeben, 800 Academic Drive, and April 12 at Leggee, 13723 Harmony Road. A separate session will be held for families of students entering first grade at 6 p.m. Monday at Chesak, 10910 Reed Road.

For more information about the program and job openings for bilingual teachers, visit district158.org/dual-language.