L.A. Unified elementary school experiments with dual-language program

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Twenty kindergartners gathered expectantly around their teacher Wednesday, the first day of an urban experiment nearly two years in the making at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Aldama Elementary School in Highland Park. They are going to learn Spanish and English and, teacher Amanda Kunkel promised, have fun, reports Jason Song.

But they just had to do one thing first.

‘This would be a good time to say goodbye,’ Kunkel gently told the anxious parents ringing the back of the room.

It’s not an unusual scene: Lots of mothers and fathers have a tough time letting go on the first day of school. But it was especially difficult for some Aldama parents who brought equal parts of idealism and economic reality to work with L.A. Unified officials on starting a Spanish-and-English immersion program at their neighborhood campus.

You can read more about the bilingual immersion program here, and for more on education and language issues, click here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City