Providence Christian hopes to add Merced’s first dual-language immersion program

Beginning next school year, Providence Christian School in Merced hopes to be the first school in the city to offer kindergarten students the option of enrolling in a program that teaches for fluency in both English and Spanish.

In a dual-immersion program, students do schoolwork solely in the target language – in this case Spanish – for their first few years of education before their native language is introduced into coursework. The goal is for students to be bilingual in English and Spanish by the time they’re in the fifth grade. Over time, students will fluently read, write and speak in both languages.

Currently, no schools in Merced offer such a curriculum, though schools in Delhi, Hilmar and Livingston offer similar programs. There are more than 350 dual-immersion programs throughout California, according to DualLanguageSchools.org.

“We want to continue to strive for the best learning experiences,” said Randall Postmus, principal at Providence. “We did some research, and this seems to be a venue to do that. We’re excited, but also cautious. We’re going to take that leap of faith.”

Providence, which currently enrolls about 200 students, is a private Christian school. The school is hoping to add a dual-immersion kindergarten class next school year in addition to their current classes. Students will stay in the program through fifth grade. Then, when they progress to sixth grade at Stoneridge Christian, three of their classes will be taught in Spanish.

“The target population for the program is anyone who wants to add a language to their current language,” said Luciana Jonkman, the parent liaison for the program at Providence. “It’s an additive program. It doesn’t take away from what you do at home or what society brings to students. It adds to that.”

The ideal balance of students would include an equal number of English native speakers, students bilingual in both English and Spanish, and Spanish native speakers.

According to the California Department of Education, the English speaker is not at risk of losing English skills because that’s the language spoken at home, in the community and in the media. Additionally, research shows that when programs are fully implemented, English learners score as well as or better than their peers in other programs in English tests.

“The students will learn from each other,” Jonkman said. “The teacher is responsible for keeping that language consistency within the classroom framework. But when students play on the playground, the native English speakers will engage more in English.”

Merced resident Anthony De Jager said he will put both his young son and daughter through the program.

“Whenever you have the opportunity to get into something and give your child the chance to succeed, it’s worth getting excited about,” he said. “I want to give (my children) the opportunity to develop in a unique way.”

Providence still is working out the logistics to the program. At first, it will be at a location separate from the existing campus. The school also is seeking a qualified, certified teacher for the program.

Providence also is working with add.a.lingua to implement the program. Parents who wish to put their students through the dual-immersion program must pay the Providence tuition, about $6,000 per school year for the first student, plus an additional $250 fee for the program.

For more information, parents can call Jen McCary at 209-383-4727 or attend an informational meeting at 6 p.m. on March 1 at Providence Christian, 2142 E. Yosemite Ave. in Merced.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Providence Christian hopes to add Merced’s first dual-language immersion program."