Beginning in 5 year-old kindergarten, our elementary students in the immersion program spend half the day studying the regular grade level curriculum and standards in classes conducted in the target language. The other half of the day is conducted in English.  Mathematics, science and literacy are taught in the target language. English language arts and social studies are taught in English.

The immersion program begins in 5-year-old kindergarten at the following schools: 

• Centerville Elementary (Spanish)
• Deerfield Elementary (Spanish starting in 2023-2024)
• Gilbert Elementary (Spanish)
• Meadow Glen Elementary (Mandarin Chinese) 
• Midway Elementary (French)
• Pleasant Hill Elementary (Spanish)
• Red Bank Elementary (Spanish)

At the middle school level, immersion students have the opportunity to continue their language learning by taking two courses in the target language:

• Language arts course: This is a high school credit-bearing course that will help students begin to focus on how the language works. Students will begin more in depth studies of the language itself, literature and cultural idioms. Accuracy, grammar and literacy will become more emphasized in this phase of their language learning.

• Passport: Conducted in the target language using a hands-on, project-based learning approach, learners will communicate and collaborate with students and experts from across the country and the target cultures to explore real-world problems and cultural practices.

The middle school immersion schools are:

• Centerville and Gilbert Elementary Spanish immersion students will attend Gilbert Middle School 
• Deerfield and Pleasant Hill German and Spanish immersion students will attend Pleasant Hill Middle School
• Meadow Glen Elementary Mandarin Chinese immersion students will attend Meadow Glen Middle School
• Midway Elementary French immersion students will attend Lakeside Middle School
• Red Bank Elementary Spanish immersion students will attend Carolina Springs Middle School

At the high school level, immersion students have the opportunity to continue their language learning by taking honors and advanced-leveled language courses.  To be recognized as an Immersion Completer at high school graduation, students must: 

• finish 8th grade immersion 
• take 2 or more immersion courses in high school
• qualify for the second language portion of the Seal of Biliteracy 

The high school immersion schools are:

• Carolina Springs Middle School Spanish immersion students will attend White Knoll High School
• Gilbert Middle School Spanish immersion students will attend Gilbert High School
• Lakeside Middle School French immersion students will attend River Bluff High School
• Meadow Glen Middle School Mandarin Chinese immersion students will attend River Bluff High School
• Pleasant Hill Middle School German and Spanish immersion students will attend Lexington High School

The immersion program is a K-12 experience.  For the requirements to be recognized as an Immersion Graduate at high school graduation, please reference the Immersion Completer Guidelines.

2024-2025 Dual-Language Immersion Registration

The link for the immersion application form will be available at the bottom of this page on
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.

Did you miss Immersion Information Night? 

Check out this video recap of Immersion Information Night: 

Prior to registering, ALL parents must read the Dual Language Immersion Parent Understandings. 

When you click "Submit" on the Dual Language Immersion Registration form, you will see a pop-up box that looks like this:

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 immersion siblings of children already in the Lexington One program:

• Students who have siblings who are currently in the program must also register for 5K immersion online at the time of registration.
• All registrants for the 5K immersion program will use the same registration link.
• Siblings must be enrolled for 5K prior to registering for immersion.

2023-2024 Parent Immersion Information Handout

The uniqueness of an immersion program is that the world language is not taught as a subject. Instead, the world language becomes the language of instruction for part of the curriculum. Children then acquire the world language through interesting and meaningful activities in the language as they learn the concepts of the various subjects included in the elementary curriculum. Research studies show that learning a second language at an early age has a positive effect on intellectual growth and leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and improved listening skills.

Immersion programs are the fastest growing and most effective type of foreign language program currently available in U.S. schools. Most immersion students can be expected to reach higher levels of second language proficiency than students in other school-based language programs (Met, 1998). Becoming bilingual opens the door to communication with more people in more places, and many parents want to provide their children with skills to interact competently in an increasingly interdependent world community.

The overall goals (ABCs) of the Immersion program are:

• Academic Achievement: for students to succeed academically in all subject areas at levels comparable to those they would have reached if they had been schooled only in English, according to district guidelines and state standards.
• Bilingualism & Biliteracy: for students to develop communicative and academic proficiency in the target language and in English (in all skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking).
• Cultural Competence: for students to develop a multicultural awareness, a more global perspective, and increased appreciation for other cultures.

The program is aimed at enriching all the students in the school via special exhibits, outside speakers, and other cultural activities.  

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. Click here to see the guidelines for the withdrawal process. 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. 

While we certainly understand the desire of parents with children currently enrolled in Lexington School District One to be a part of the immersion program, it is very important to understand why we are beginning the program at the kindergarten level.  We have done extensive research concerning the best approach to take implementing this partial-immersion program and we are continuing to do so.  We have consulted with experts in the field and with other districts who have longstanding, successive programs as well as districts who are struggling to maintain an immersion program in place.   The program must have a solid beginning, be sound in methodology, and in pedagogy to ensure long-term success. 

Programs that begin at the kindergarten level are most often better able to meet the emotional, mental and intellectual needs of the learner because there is less of a knowledge gap between what the learner already knows in his/her native language within the content areas being taught and what he/she will be learning at school.  The kindergarten curriculum is very fundamental by nature and this marries with the linguistic curriculum, the methodology and the pedagogy for partial-immersion instruction best at this level for introduction to the program. Children at this level have been shown to be  less insecure and better able to cope with the unknown because their whole world at school is new to them at this point. They are learning everything from "scratch" and will not be intimidated by the content being taught in another language.  They will also have a more solid language base to pull from as the content they are learning becomes more complex each year.

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.

In addition to developing a lifelong ability to communicate with more people, children may drive other benefits from early language instruction, including improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills. Knowing a second language ultimately provides a competitive advantage in the workforce by opening up additional job opportunities.

Students of foreign languages score statistically higher on standardized tests conducted in English. In its 1992 report, College Bound Seniors: The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area. In addition, the average mathematics score for individuals who had taken 4 or more years of foreign language study was identical to the average score of those who had studied 4 years of mathematics. These findings are consistent with College Board profiles for previous years.  

Students of foreign languages have access to a greater number of career possibilities and develop a greater understanding of their own and other cultures. Some evidence also suggests that children who receive second language instruction are more creative and better at solving complex problems. The benefits to society are many. Americans fluent in other languages enhance our economic competitiveness abroad, improve global communications, and maintain our political and security interests. 

Many parents are initially fearful that immersion may have a negative impact on their child’s English language development. But research consistently finds that the immersion experience actually enhances English language development (Cloud, Genesee , & Hamayan, 2000). It should be noted that full immersion students’ English development may lag temporarily in reading, word knowledge, and spelling while instruction is occurring exclusively in the immersion language. However, after a year or two of instruction in English language arts, this discrepancy disappears ( Genesee , 1987). It is important for parents to understand that this lag is temporary and to be expected.

 It is assumed that immersion students will have consistent exposure to and support for English at home and in the community. Parents need to provide their children with experiences that will enhance their English language and literacy development. For example, they should read to their children every day and involve them in games and activities that complement their classroom learning. Research shows that the stronger the development of the native language, the greater the proficiency in the immersion language, so children who enter an immersion program with a strong base in English will succeed more easily than those whose English skills are not as strong.

After only 2 or 3 years in an immersion program, students begin to demonstrate fluency and confidence when using the immersion language, and their listening and reading skills are comparable to those of native speakers of the same age. While these skills remain native-like, students’ speaking and writing skills lag behind those of native speakers (Johnson & Swain, 1997).

Research finds that immersion students’ second language lacks grammatical accuracy and does not display the variety and complexity produced by native speakers of the language. Achieving high levels of oral and written proficiency in a second language is a long-term process. A long-term commitment is essential, and parents need to understand that native-like proficiency in every skill area is unlikely. Still, immersion students will have a strong second language base upon which to continue moving toward full proficiency and to develop proficiency in subsequent languages.

Language learning is influenced by many factors, including students’ personality and motivation, teacher expectations, parental support, program leadership, and support at both the school and district level. Student success requires the active involvement of all of these stakeholders.  

Research findings on the effectiveness of immersion education hold true for a wide range of students, including those from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds (Genesee , 1992).

As is sometimes purported, these programs are not intended exclusively for middle- and upper-class Anglo families. In fact, some recent research indicates that immersion may be an effective program model for children who speak a language other than English or the immersion language at home (deCourcy, Warren, & Burston, 2002). It is hypothesized that these learners may benefit from a leveling-of-the-playing-field effect that occurs when all of the students in the class are functioning in a second language. Students who are not native speakers of English are able to be on par with their native-English-speaking peers and enjoy the same kinds of success with learning.

There are, however, many unanswered questions concerning the suitability of language immersion for children with language-based learning disabilities. Research on this topic is scant. Some researchers and immersion practitioners argue that children whose first language acquisition is seriously delayed or who struggle with auditory discrimination skills may be overtaxed in a language immersion program (see review in Genesee , 1992). Previously identified language-processing challenges should be considered prior to enrolling a child in an immersion program. Still, many children with mild learning disabilities, knowledgeable teachers, and supportive families can and do achieve well in immersion programs and develop proficiency in a second language. Parents and educators need not assume that learning in two languages will overtax these children. In fact, many instructional techniques used in immersion are similar to techniques recommended for struggling learners. Understanding how to make language immersion classrooms more inclusive for a broader spectrum of learners is one of many topics of interest to immersion educators. 

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.  

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