Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools March/April 2019 | Page 5

Educators from across the country learn best practices from UCPS Dual Language Immersion schools
UCPS is home to
the most dual language
immersion schools in the
state, with 14 elementary
and middle schools
offering programs in
Mandarin or Spanish to
more than 1,300 students.
That’s why on Feb.
6, dozens of educators
from across the country
traveled to Union County
to catch a glimpse of the
district’s successful Dual
Language Immersion
program in action. As
part of the International
Conference on Immersion
and Dual Language
Education, the visitors
spent the day visiting
Spanish immersion classes
at Shiloh, Sun Valley and
Unionville elementary schools.
“We attended this conference because we wanted to learn
more about what schools outside of our area are doing and
what their challenges were with implementing dual immersion
programs,” said Dr. Jose Montano, principal of Andrew Jackson
Elementary in Indio, California, as he stood in Unionville
Elementary’s media center. “We’re going to offer a 90-10 Dual
Language Immersion program at our school in 2019-20. My team
has never seen a program like this so I wanted us to come and
see it together.”
For several hours, the visitors walked the halls of the three
elementary schools and observed dual language immersion
classes at every grade level. Throughout the tour, some of the
visitors stopped often to speak with teachers and students while
others quickly jotted notes and took pictures or video as they
watched the classroom instruction.
Additional panel discussions with students and teachers at
Unionville Elementary as well as a question and answer session
at Sun Valley Elementary also provided the visitors with an
opportunity to ask a number of questions on topics that ranged
from implementation to testing to any hiccups experienced
throughout the duration of the program at their respective schools.
“I was really impressed with the level of Spanish the students
were speaking and the grammatical accuracy with what they were
speaking,” Avenues New York teacher Julie Yankowitz said at the
end of the panel discussion. “My school is a 50-50 dual language
immersion program and they don’t get as much time in the target
language, so that is something that I’m definitely hoping to bring
back home.”
With Unionville Elementary being one of only two schools
in the state to achieve the NC Model Global-Ready School
distinction, and Sun Valley and Shiloh elementary schools
expanding their dual language immersion programs to the
middle school level this school year, the International Conference
provided UCPS with the
perfect opportunity to
put its successful dual
language immersion
programs on a
national stage.
At the end of the day,
UCPS Director of College
Readiness and Innovation
Jessica Garner said she
hoped attendees saw
that wide global
focus that students have
in Dual Language
Immersion programs.
“I hope our schools
were able to showcase
their amazing school
leaders, teachers and
students. I also hope that
they were able to share
the message that while
dual language is certainly
a program, the teachers and students are integrated into the
school as a whole,” she said. “We wanted the attendees to see the
power of Dual Language Immersion and the impact it can have on
students, families and the community.”
Parent Teacher Magazine • Mar/Apr 2019 • 3