Dual-Language Immersion

ENHANCED COGNITIVE SKILLS: Immersion students, due to the demands of processing two languages, typically develop greater cognitive flexibility and demonstrate increased attention control, better memory, and superior problem‐solving skills.

IMPROVED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Standardized test results in English and mathematics consistently show that immersion students perform as well as or better than their non-immersion peers. This is true even when the tests are administered in English.

HIGHER SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: Immersion students achieve higher levels of second language proficiency than through any other language development model.

PREPARED FOR GLOBAL ECONOMY: Being multilingual gives you a competitive edge in the global workforce, especially in our state. South Carolina is home to over 1,100 international businesses and 10% of South Carolina’s private industry workforce (more than 170,000 South Carolinians) are employed by international firms.

ENHANCED GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: Immersion students are better prepared to collaborate and communicate across linguistic and political boundaries to solve problems as a result of the demands of their learning environments, and they evidence more positive attitudes toward other peoples and other cultures.

If a child in the immersion program has a younger sibling and the parents wish to have the younger sibling participate in the program as well, be sure to adhere to the following in order to receive priority registration: 

Younger siblings of current immersion students are given first priority in the immersion program at the same school as their older sibling. In order to receive priority registration:

• The Immersion Registration Form needs to be completed within the first month of registration starting.

• All registrants for the 5K immersion program will use the same registration link.

• Siblings must be enrolled for 5K prior to registering for immersion.

Applications for 5K immersion open in February. Space is limited. Submitting an application for immersion does not guarantee a spot in the immersion program.  The district gives priority to students whose homes fall within the attendance zones of the immersion schools. Ten additional spaces are reserved at each site for students who reside outside of those attendance zones, but are residents within the Lexington One attendance zones. For students who attend the immersion program from out of the school zone they are attending, parents will be required to provide transportation for their child.

In most cases, learning another language actually enhances a child's English ability. Children can learn much about English by learning the structure of other languages. Common vocabulary also helps children learn the meaning of new words in English. Experimental studies have shown that no long-term delay in native English language development occurs between children participating in second language immersion classes and those schooled exclusively in English.

Parental support for the student and the teachers is very important for a successful learning experience. Language immersion is a leap of faith and requires a long-term commitment. If you are interested in your child participating it is very important for you to understand how important it is for you to be committed to the pedagogy, philosophy and methodology of immersion language learning. Children do not become proficient in a language without exposure and practice over a duration of time. The time it takes for children to begin speaking, reading and writing in another language varies from one child to another. There is a formal withdrawal process that must be adhered to on the parts of the teachers and parents of children in the program. The Principal at each school site is able to walk parents through this process or the parents may contact Sarah Bley for more information (sbley@lexington1.net).

There is no cost to the student to be part of this program outside of the regular annual school fees, etc.

The expenditures for this program outside of the cost of adding a traditional grade level teacher are primarily in materials and staff development. The district sees great value and investment not only in what this program provides to our students but also to our Lexington community at large. 

It would not be possible for incoming first-graders to begin the program with an ongoing class that began in kindergarten unless the incoming first grader has had a prior language experience that prepared him/her for such a high level of comprehension and/or proficiency.  For learners to enter the program at later grades he/she must pass a performance assessment in the language, IN the areas of math and science and perform to a comparable level as the learners in the immersion classroom at that grade level.

For students who attend the immersion program from out of the school zone they are attending, parents will be required to provide transportation for their child. If they live in the school zone, the child has the same access to school transportation as all other students zoned for that school.