Schools / Education news : Bilingual Academy Seeks Freshmen

Officials at Westminster High School are seeking 50 incoming freshman to attend a state-funded academy for bilingual teachers when it opens in September.

The new Bilingual Teacher Academy, funded by a state grant, has sent 500 letters to potential students, program coordinator Kathleen Iverson said.

The three-year program, consisting of four or five classes and other instruction and tutoring, will prepare students for careers in bilingual teaching and tutoring, Iverson said.

“This program is designed to encourage students who are or will become bilingual to pursue higher education and become classroom teachers,” she said.

Participants will also receive training to become tutors and bilingual aides, which would make them eligible to become paid tutors for other students at the high school and in elementary school classrooms.

The program, which will be evaluated yearly by the state Department of Education, will also provide students with internships and apprenticeships.

The academy is being funded by the state in an effort to alleviate a shortage of bilingual teachers, a particular problem in Westminster, officials said.

The Westminster School District, which was not been able to meet its requirement for hiring bilingual teachers, was recently given state permission to teach all students in English, but compensate by using bilingual aides.

The state Department of Education reports that 1.25 million of California’s public school children, or about 25%, have limited English skills, but bilingual teachers account for less than 10% of all teachers.