Rosehill Elementary School students enrolled in Tomball ISD’s Two-Way Dual Language program will now be able to continue the program as they advance to middle school. The Tomball school board unanimously approved extending it to Tomball Intermediate School at its April 11 meeting.

“The program has been successful; it’s been well sought out; and so we’re just continuing [it],” Superintendent Martha Salazar-Zamora said during the April 10 workshop meeting.

Started in the 2019-20 school year, the Two-Way Dual Language program teaches students math, language arts, science and social studies in English and Spanish, Community Impact previously reported.

“I think it’s also important to note that within Two-Way Dual Language at Rosehill Elementary, we also have students who are speaking Portuguese; Vietnamese; and Gujarati, which is a language ... from a specific state in India,” Chief Academic Officer Michael Webb said during the workshop meeting.

There are 352 students enrolled in the Two-Way Dual Language program with 200 students on the waitlist, according to Webb’s presentation to the school board, and 558 students have applied over the last five years.

The expansion will cost the district $168,000 for the 2024-25 school year as two Two-Way Dual Language teachers will be hired, Webb said during his presentation. During the 2025-26 school year, two more teachers will be hired for another $168,000.

The program’s first cohort is in third grade, so the expansion to Tomball Intermediate will begin in the 2024-25 school year when they advance to middle school.