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The Auburn School District is launching a Spanish/English dual language program at Pioneer Elementary starting in September 2025 for kindergarten students.
Dual language programs foster high academic achievement and offer a strong foundation for students to become bilingual and biliterate. This program is optional and traditional kindergarten programs in English only will be available. The dual language program will primarily serve students at Pioneer.
What is Dual Language?
This optional program will provide students with academic and literacy instruction in both English and Spanish languages. For students in the dual language track, it is their general education.
For students in the program, their classroom teacher will be using Spanish for instruction a significant portion of the day. A foundation of literacy in Spanish is built first with English literacy coming later. Spanish Language Arts is part of their core curriculum. Their learning specialists (PE, Music, Library, SEL, Science) teachers use English for instruction.
About half of the students in the class will have a home language of Spanish and about half will have a home language of English or another language. This balance helps to foster an environment in which students are learning each other’s languages.
Program Goals
The dual language program's goals are:
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For students to become bilingual and biliterate, with high levels of proficiency in both languages.
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That students will perform at or above grade level in academic areas (ELA, Math, Science) in both languages.
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That students will develop sociocultural competence.
The dual language program will primarily serve students at Pioneer.
Program Mission and Vision
The dual language program's mission is ultimately to empower students in our multilingual community to become bilingual and biliterate, fostering academic excellence and a deep appreciation for diverse languages and cultures.
The program's creators envision a future where graduates are confident and multilingual leaders who bridge cultures and thrive in an interconnected world.
More information is available here, or contact Assistant Director Peter Lamb.