District 21 expanding dual language program

The first year of a dual language program at Wheeling Township Elementary District 21's Walt Whitman and Robert Frost Elementary schools was a success and next year the program will be expanded, school officials said.

All kindergarten students at the two elementary schools are taking dual language classes for 30 minutes four times a week. The students are English speakers who are learning Spanish as well as Spanish-speaking students who are learning English as a second language.

Next year, recognizing the benefits of students learning a foreign language at an early age, the program will include first grade students at both schools and give students an opportunity to receive more instruction in the morning or during lunch time. The district will also be offering a dual language enrichment summer program in August.

"We've had very positive feedback from parents," said Rosemarie Meyer, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. She noted that there is a significant number of Spanish-speaking students in the district.

Meyer said that parents of children who are English proficient, but speak Spanish at home, saw the benefit of practicing both oral and literacy skills in Spanish.

Meyer said that for the 2016-2017 school year, officials plan to have a more developed dual language plan in place where the students work in their partner languages throughout the day at Whitman and Frost schools. She said officials talked with other school districts that have dual language programs, such as Elk Grove Township District 59 and Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54, to see how their dual language programs operate.

District 59 has had a dual language program for five years. Griselda Pirtle, the district's director of English learners, said that this year is the first year that the entire class is composed of Spanish-speaking kids, instead of half the kids speaking English.

"As we do more research, we are seeing the benefits of dual language programs and being bilingual, not only for careers, but for brain development," said Pirtle, who said officials plan to expand their opportunities for English-speaking students to learn Spanish in the future. Currently, that is only available at one of the district's schools.

"We are investigating models that other school districts are using," said Meyer. She said that some use a 50/50 Spanish to English model and some have other models.

Each year, officials are planning to provide more options for the dual language program, she said, but she is not sure whether they will expand the program to other schools in the district or other grade levels.

"We're in the very beginning stages," Meyer said. "We'll see what the future holds."