Atkinson Elementary School

In our program students begin their school experience in kindergarten with 90% of the instruction in Spanish. At each grade level the percentage of English increases and the Spanish decreases until at fourth and fifth grade the students receive 50% of their instruction in each language. Our program is a dual language program with a mixture of native Spanish speakers and native English speakers and they are all on their way to becoming bilingual. When instruction takes place in English, the Spanish speakers are immersed in their second language. In the same manner, when instruction is in Spanish, our native English speakers are immersed in their second language. In this way, each child has a time in the day when the instruction is in their native language and they have a chance to lead and shine. The academic focus within the immersion program is clearly on language development, based on a strong foundation in science, math and literacy. Students, in general, who participate in immersion program do very well on standardized tests, as learning a second language helps develop cognitive flexibiltiy.