Bijou's Two Way Bilingual Immersion program integrates native English speakers and native Spanish speakers for academic instruction in both languages. Teachers present academic instruction in separate language blocks. In TK, kinder and 1st grades, students receive 90% of their school day in Spanish and 10% in English. After that, the percent of English increases each year until 50% of students day is in Spanish and 50% of students day is in English in 5th grade. Our program continues into middle school and high school.
Bijou Community School’s Two-Way Immersion Program is based on a two-way immersion educational model, the goals of which are:
- High academic proficiency in two languages
- Bilingualism and biliteracy
- Socioculturalcompetency
Students are taught to read and write in Spanish first. English instruction focuses on listening comprehension and speaking in the primary grades. In 3rd grade, students begin formal reading and writing instruction in English. By the time they exit fifth grade, students speak, read, and write fluently in English and Spanish as measured by the state-standardized assessments and teacher-developed assessments. Students have the same access to the academic core curriculum as English-speaking students in an enriched English-only program.