“Essentially Rosehill [Elementary] is accommodating every single emergent bilingual student in the north of the district, and we know that's not even feasible for all students,” Chief Academic Officer Michael Webb told Community Impact.
In a nutshell
At the district’s Oct. 13 workshop meeting, Webb proposed a dual language program that would begin in one of the district’s elementary schools and eventually feed into Tomball High School. Webb said the elementary school in the feeder program will be determined after the district gets its demographic report.
“We do know based on the number of emergent bilingual students that we have, the capacity challenges we have at Rosehill [Elementary], and just the overall growth of the district, we need a third feeder pattern,” Webb said.
According to a presentation from Webb at the workshop meeting, there are currently 772 total students enrolled at Rosehill Elementary. The school has a capacity of 866 students. Along with the feeder program at Rosehill Elementary, there is another at Canyon Pointe Elementary.
Explained
Webb said the district’s dual language program serves students who are native Spanish speakers by helping them maintain their native language but also transition to the English language. Dual language programs are offered at Rosehill Elementary, Canyon Pointe Elementary, Tomball Intermediate and Oakcrest Intermediate.
According to Paloma Moreno, TISD’s director of multilingual programs, a one-way dual language program includes speakers who maintain their first language while moving toward English proficiency. A two-way dual language program adds in students who already have English proficiency and are moving toward Spanish proficiency.
Webb said the district will have to determine whether the new feeder program will be a one- or two-way dual language program based on space, availability and cost.
Going forward
Board President Michael Pratt suggested looking at the proposal more in a future special workshop, after board members brought up a discussion on whether the new feeder would be a one- or two-way dual language program.
