A Spanish-English dual language program wlil begin this fall at Chester H. Thompson Elementary School in the Bethel School District. The program will be limited to kindergarten during the 2015-16 school year, but other grades will be added in following years, according to district officials. They said the program will be academically challenging and enriching and will focus on bilingual and biliterate proficiency in Spanish and English. As the district's first immersion program, the school is seeking native Spanish and English-speaking students. The application deadline is March 23. More information is available at 253-683-5800 and bethelsd.org. Approximately 90 percent of instruction will be in Spanish and 10 percent will be in English to facilitate early Spanish language learning, officials said. As students transition to higher grades, more of the instruction will shift to English. By fifth grade, there will be a 50-50 split of Spanish and English content. To explain the program and to make children eligible for participation, the school will host meetings for English-speaking families March 12 and for Spanish-speaking families on March 5.-áThe meetings are scheduled for 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Attendance is required for the admissions process. Bethel is one of the latest school districts in Washington to launch dual language programs (also known as dual immersion). Accordinng to the office of the state ruperintendent of public instruction, programss currently exist in the Bellevue, Evergreen, Highline, Kennewick, Mount Vernon, Northshore, Pasco, Seattle, Vancouver, Wenatcheee and Yakima districts. They offer instruction in Spanish, Japanese and/or Mandarin Chinese and typically start in kindergarten or first grade and continue through elementary school grades andn into middle school or high school.
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