When principal Ray Mercado arrived at Gilbert Elementary School three years ago, he set about making improvements.
For several years, the neighborhood school has housed a district dual language program. Mercado now refers to it as an “accelerated foreign language academy,” with a bilingual program for students. With that in mind, Mercado and his staff set two goals: All students will meet district grade level standards in their native language and all students will achieve grade level competence in a second language (Spanish for most) in reading, listening and writing.
This year, the school was graded a “B” by the Arizona Department of Education.
Mercado told a group of parents recently that it’s really a “B plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.”
“We were one point from an A,” he said.
The school houses about 640 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. It’s a unique campus, built on a large footprint with several “cottages” in the middle that serve as classrooms for kindergarten through third-grade classes. Staff and students care for several gardens that surround the campus.
Language is the focus at the school, and you can’t miss it. Everywhere, you’ll see “grammar walls” or “word walls” to offer lessons to the students as they walk about the hallways and rooms.
“We started implementing it in the past year. It has made a tremendous difference with the refocus and grammar focus. We’ve seen a tremendous boost in student learning and grasping the concepts,” Mercado said.
Students in kindergarten, first and second grade are learning math in Spanish to immerse them in language and academic learning.
“I was a little nervous,” Mercado said about introducing that program. “But these kiddos, their brains are sponges. They’re really moving forward fast in Spanish material in math.”
The school also adopted a “customer service” and recognition attitude, Mercado said, that starts with the front office and moves into the hallways and classrooms.
Since the school’s mascot is the tiger, each month Mercado recognizes the school’s “top cats” from each class. Their reward is lunch with Mercado, which includes some sports time during the day.
And to reinforce the importance of school, student absences for each class are tracked daily on a whiteboard.
“I tell the students, ‘miss a day, miss a lot,’” Mercado said.
To step out into the community more, the school will host a “Family Fitness Fair” 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday to teach students and their families about nutrition, exercise and healthy habits.
The school’s nurse, Barb Naleski, received a grant to help put on the event.
More than 50 vendors are participating. Seniors from the Gilbert Senior Center will help with a “bike rodeo.” Flu vaccines will be available and children can receive healthy snacks. The community is welcome.
Contact writer: (480) 898-6549 or mreese@evtrib.com
VofReason posted at 12:24 pm on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
Hmmmm. I have lived in AZ for 35 years. Know enough Spainish to get my name on the board in a class, but have never seemed to have felt at a loss. So are we teaching English speaking kids Spainish for a benefit or just pandering to people who don't speak English?
patriotmom posted at 2:16 pm on Wed, Oct 3, 2012.
What a complete waste of taxpayer money. America does not lag in the world in Spanish- we lag in math and science. Teaching kids difficult concepts- which math is for many- while also teaching that in a second language seems onerous. While there certainly is a benefit to learning a second language, there is no reason to make this the focus of an entire school for every grade.
It certainly seems like pandering to a section of the population who refuses to learn the language of THIS country.
TruthMaster posted at 10:21 am on Sat, Oct 6, 2012.
In response to VOFREASON, The language program at Gilbert Elementary is not designed as a crutch for kids that don't speak English. It's primarily to teach English speakers Spanish. You may not have noticed but there are many Hispanics in Arizona (and the rest of the country) and the business opportunities south of the border, including South America, are significant (Think about the oil bidness, Jethro!)
And in response to ignorant PATRIOTMOM, the language program is not the focus of the entire school for every grade. The program does not cover every grade level and it is an optional program that parents can choose for their students. If you have a student that is smarter than the children that PATRIOTMOM has, then the language program might be a great way to increase your child's intelligence and keep your child challenged.[smile][smile]
gilbertmom posted at 8:54 am on Mon, Oct 22, 2012.
This is a wonderful experience for the children involved in the dual-language program. Research has shown - see the works of Noam Chomsky - that young children have a Language Acquisition Device in their brains to help them assimilate language in their environment. Dr. Trevor McKee pioneered the McKee Language System using Chomsky’s theories to help children also acquire a second language (google it). This works. Though my family is not of hispanic ancestry, both my husband and I learned Spanish as adults and chose to speak to our children in Spanish since birth. Our children are bilingual and have had increased educational and employment opportunities because of it. The goal of literacy in BOTH languages in the Gilbert El. program also fulfills the goals of the district in being world-class graduates. I would like to see the district provide fluidity to the program across the secondary grade levels. These students, if given the opportunity, could obtain AP Spanish credit when in junior high, if not 9th grade. I would also like to see the program expanded into preschool where children’s minds are even more flexible. If done properly, children can become fluent and literate in both languages, allowing them increased marketability in the world job market.