On the first day of school at Hirsch Elementary School on Trailing Vine Road in Spring ISD, a group of kindergarten students began the day with basic vocabulary exercises and talked about their summer vacations. The difference between this and other classrooms is that instruction took place in Spanish, even though half of the 22 students are English-speaking.

This year SISD launched dual-language immersion programs at Hirsch, Northgate and Clark Primary elementary schools beginning in kindergarten and first grade. Parents volunteered for their children to participate in the program, district officials said.

Klein ISD is piloting a similar program in Spanish at Klenk and Zwink elementary schools this year as well as a Vietnamese/English program at Klenk for students who speak Vietnamese at home, KISD Deputy Superintendent Jenny McGown said.

The programs help English-speaking students develop bilingual skills at an early age, and they provide an environment in which non-English speaking students can gradually learn English while further developing their native language skills, said Lupita Hinojosa, SISD chief of school leadership and student support services.

“[We] would like our students to come out of the elementary school being bilingual, bicultural and biliterate,” Hirsch Elementary School Principal John Baker said. “It’s important to be able to participate in the economy of the world.”

SISD dual-language immersion classrooms begin 80 percent in Spanish and 20 percent in English, but they gradually shift to a 50-50 mix by fifth grade, Hinojosa said.

KISD programs maintain a 50-50 balance throughout the K-5 program, McGown said.

Virginia-based researchers Wayne Thomas and Virginia Collier, who specialize in dual-language immersion, helped SISD develop its program, Hinojosa said. Research the duo shared with SISD in 2017 shows high longterm achievement on English reading assessments among students learning English in dual-language programs.

“Most importantly the success the students are achieving is sustainable after they leave high school, getting jobs [that are] paying at a higher level,” Hinojosa said.

SISD expects to expand the program and develop programs at the middle school level, Hinojosa said. It may consider additional languages in widely spoken languages such as Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese, which is spoken by many students in SISD.