Combining quality early childhood education with a Spanish immersion program gives students a great start in their education and their lives.

For the parents that value multilingualism – beginning their child’s formal learning with an immersion preschool is a natural fit. Not only does the knowledge of another language help to keep the cultural heritage of the family alive, it also helps to provide preschoolers with advantages later in life. No doubt that being fluent in more than one language provides personal and professional opportunities in the future.

There are many benefits of multilingualism and we are so very proud to offer that opportunity for our amazing students and families.

Our Valeska Hinton dual-language immersion program:

• Accommodates 40 children

• Uses a 50-50 model – half of the children are first-language English and half are first-language Spanish

• Is taught by bilingual teachers, assisted by bilingual aides, with qualifications and/or training related to educating preschool bilingual learners

• Teaches Reading in Spanish to Spanish first-language students and in English to students whose first language is English

• Teaches Math, science, and social studies in both languages

Significant research indicates that students in dual-language immersion programs gain many benefits. Children who learn a second language from an early age consistently show superior mathematical conceptualization, problem solving skills, verbal acumen, and creativity.

According to The Center for Applied Linguistics and nThe Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, students in dual immersion programs: 

• Develop a better understanding of how language works, an important factor in developing reading comprehension skills

• Fared better than monolinguistic students in tasks which required divergent thinking, pattern recognition and problem-solving

• Showed a greater understanding, tolerance, empathy, appreciation and respect for other languages and cultures

• Have greater gains in reading skills

• Have the best advantage in developing the pronunciation, structure, and intonation of the new language easily and successfully

Our dual-language program at Valeska Hinton is a small first step toward helping students become truly multi-lingual. Empowered with a second language
and an appreciation for cultural diversity, our students are ready to embrace the multicultural world they will be running one day.