Register for Dare County’s Spanish dual language classes

Published 10:04 am Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Registration is now open for rising kindergarten and first grade students in Dare County Schools for a Spanish Dual Language classroom for the 2018-2019 school year.

The deadline for submitting registration forms is March 29, 2018.

To ensure equitable access to the program, Dare County Schools will use a lottery system to determine class lists.

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In order to start a program, a school must have at least 20 students enrolled per class. On March 30, the lottery will be conducted. Subsequently, the system will announce which schools will receive the program.

To implement the program, Dare Schools will partner with Participate, a company building education programs in North Carolina and Virginia. Participate recruits teachers from 28 different countries to build a dual language program.

Participate uses two models for dual language programs:

-Two-way immersion: native speakers of English and Spanish are grouped together with both becoming “bilingual, biliterate and bicultural.” The classes can deliver instruction with 90 percent in Spanish and 10 percent in English or on a 50-50 ratio.

-Full immersion programs: instruction is delivered only in Spanish. English Language Arts is introduced in grade 2.

The Spanish Dual Language classes will continue through the fifth grade.

According to a Frequently Asked Questions document posted on the Dare County Schools website, the following classes are contemplated for the upcoming school term, providing at least 20 students register for the classes:

*Cape Hatteras Elementary: Kindergarten: 1 section of two-way immersion (50/50); First Grade: 1 section of two-way immersion (50/50)

*First Flight Elementary School: Kindergarten: 1 section of full immersion (90/10); First Grade: 1 section of full immersion (90/10)

*Kitty Hawk Elementary School: Kindergarten: 1 section of full immersion (90/10); First Grade: 1 section full immersion (90/10)

*Nags Head Elementary School: Kindergarten: 1 section, program type to be determined by interest; First Grade: 1 section, program type to be determined by interest

*Manteo Elementary School: Kindergarten: Up to 2 sections, program type to be determined; First Grade: Up to 2 sections, program type to be determined.

Dare County Schools Superintendent John Farrelly briefed the Dare County School Board about the program at the Feb. 13, 2018 meeting.