Anne Arundel County schools expanding dual language immersion program
The district says it's seeing strong early results from its Dual Language Immersion Program at Tyler Heights Elementary, and now, it's bringing the program to Maryland City Elementary School in Laurel.
How does the dual language program work?
At Tyler Heights Elementary in Annapolis, students in the dual language program are taught in both English and Spanish, half the day in each language.
AACPS launched the program two years ago. District leaders said the model has made a huge impact at Tyler Heights, where roughly 90% of students come from Spanish-speaking homes.
"What we have learned is that our students participating in the dual language immersion program are achieving great gains," said Christina Catalano, chief academic officer at AACPS.
The program is working, data shows
According to the district, nearly half of kindergartners in the DLI program scored at or above grade level in literacy.
AACPS also reported that more than 80% of English learners in the program met their annual proficiency goals, outpacing their peers receiving traditional instruction.
Building on the program's success
Building upon the success at Tyler Heights, AACPS will spend the next year planning to open its second DLI program at Maryland City Elementary School in Laurel.
Catalano said Maryland City was chosen based on staffing and the percentage of Spanish-speaking students.
"We will be replicating the model that we used at Tyler Heights, and that will start with kindergarten and first grade, and then each year we will subsequently add one grade," said Catalano.
Maryland City will launch its program in the 2026-2027 school year. It's only open to students already attending the school, and families must opt in.
"We're excited and we know that this is beneficial for all of our students," Catalano said.
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