Herndon Elementary Switches Language Immersion from French to Spanish
Principal says Spanish better reflects school's population, but parents of aspiring French students are unhappy.
http://herndon.patch.com/articles/herndon-elementary-switches-language-immersion-from-french-to-spanish#comments
Herndon Elementary School (HES) has announced it will be phasing out its French language immersion program in favor of a program that immerses students in Spanish.
The change, an idea that first surfaced 18 months ago, will begin in time for the start of the 2013-14 school year. The French program will gradually be phased out year by year through 2019.
Principal Ann Gwynn said children entering the first grade in the fall will be the last ones admitted to the French program, and they will have the opportunity to continue through the program in its entirety through sixth grade.
At the same time, the new Spanish immersion program will admit its first kindergarten students this fall.
Last year, 216 of Herndon's roughly 830 students enrolled in the school's immersion program.
Gwynn, currently in her third year as principal of HES, said she feels the Spanish dual immersion program will be a "win-win" for the entire HES population, as learning Spanish is a valuable skill for English speakers in today's society and workforce, and it also helps native Spanish speakers now living in the area to better learn English.
A Spanish program is more reflective of the HES student body and community, she said.
"Looking at the current population at Herndon Elementary, about half of our students are native Spanish speakers, which is a threshold that Fairfax County Public Schools looks at to determine if its a school that would be suitable for a dual immersion program," Gwynn said.
Some parents don't feel the same way, saying not only are they unhappy about the switch in general, but also feel HES and the Fairfax County School Board did not do enough to engage local parents before making the decision, or to address their questions and concerns.
Parent/community meetings were held Jan. 30 and March 13, according to the school system.
A parent survey, which went out March 14, closed March 18.
The results, which were disclosed April 4, are mixed.
About 50 percent of respondents whose children weren't involved in the immersion program indicated a high interest in French immersion. Another 25 percent said they had no interest at all.
When asked if they'd be interested in a Spanish immersion program for their child, about 40 percent of parents responded "very much." Another 36 percent said "not at all."
Local parent Randy Solderholm said he sent two letters to the county school board asking them to answer questions and weigh in on the matter, but never received a reply - just a letter sent to his home on April 12 announcing the decision to switch the language programs.
Solderholm went on to say that he thinks the trend of expanding Spanish programs, while at the same time shrinking programs of any other languages, is unfair and unwise.
"With the HES decision, there will be more than two Spanish programs for every non-Spanish program, and two more Spanish programs will be added next year," he said in an e-mail to Patch. "Nor does it treat considerations like language portfolio balance, fair access across the county, and situations when an existing program should be transitioned to benefit one group at the expense of another. None of these topics have been evaluated and factored into an appropriately vetted, approved and documented policy to guide the HES transition decision."
Solderholm also said he was upset that, during a public debate, Fairfax County Assistant Superintendent Marty Smith said he would look into the possibility of being able to host programs in both French and Spanish at HES.
Days before the April 12 decision to switch programs was announced, a report was released that recommended further study into just such a possibility.
It's not clear whether that study will happen, or when.
"Yet, action on the French-to-Spanish proposal occurred on schedule as if the decision was made long ago, and the transmittal was coldly silent on the do-both approach," Solderholm said. "Sadly, Mr. Smith's hollow promise gave the supporters of the French program a false sense of security that effectively suppressed their objections to the proposal."
Gwynn said she feels both HES and the county school board were effective in their efforts to reach out to the local community and involve them in the decision to switch programs from French to Spanish.
"We did do a great deal of outreach," she said, citing the survey and community meetings. "I feel like we did get a large amount of community input into this decision.
Jessica Pannell, who has two daughters - one entering the third grade, and another who will start kindergarten in the 2014-15 school year — shares Solderholm's concerns.
Pannell said she is upset the new Spanish program is only being offered to the kindergarten classes next year, while her rising third-grader will only have the option of choosing French. Therefore, her two children will be learning two different languages.
"While I support the transition from French to Spanish, me and many other families are concerned that they are not offering this option to rising first-graders in lieu of French," she explained.
"Many of us have younger children and are now faced with having two children in two different language programs at the same school, or moving out of the community so that we can attend a school where both children can be in the same language program," she continued.
Pannell said she is also upset applications for immersion programs for next year were due April 5, but the announcement that the program would switch from French to Spanish wasn't made until April 12 - when it was too late to change her mind about which program to apply her children to.
"The announcement came well after parents had to make decisions related to lottery selections for language programs at other Fairfax County Schools," she told Patch.
It was not clear at press time whether the system will have flexibility with that deadline.
Herndon Elementary SchoolCredit Leslie Perales Loges
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