Long Beach : New Bilingual Program to Start Out in 90% Spanish
The Long Beach Unified School District is offering a unique bilingual program for 60 children in kindergarten and first grade. Ninety percent of their instruction will be in Spanish and 10% will be in English.
By second grade, a higher percentage of the instruction will be in English, and each year the amount of time spent learning in English will increase. By the end of fifth grade, the students should be “truly bilingual,” district spokesman Richard G. Van Der Laan said.
School officials want half of the children in each class to be English speakers and half to be Spanish speakers. The program will be taught at Patrick Henry Elementary School and transportation from selected sites will be provided. The deadline for applying is Aug. 31.
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