• The Two-Way Spanish Immersion program began at Government Hill Elementary School in 1993 and continues to be the only Two-Way Dual Language Immersion Program in Alaska. 

     

    The program starts at Government Hill (grades K-6) and continues at Romig Middle School (grades 7-8) and West High School (grades 9-12). 

     

    Two-Way Dual Language Immersion

    Immersion differs from traditional instructional approaches in which second languages are taught as separate subjects.  Immersion refers to learning core content through a second language.  As a result, students not only master subject area content, but also become bilingual when doing so.  The Government Hill two-way dual language immersion program serves both language minority and language majority students together in the same classroom.  Generally, 50 percent of the students are English speakers wanting to learn Spanish, and the other 50 percent are Spanish-speaking students, who want to maintain and further develop their first language while acquiring English language skills.  At the elementary level, students of both language groups are immersed for half of the instructional day in Spanish and the other half in English.

    Goals of the Immersion Program

    • Develop a high level of proficiency in the target language (Spanish)
    • Develop positive attitudes toward those who speak the target language and their cultures
    • Develop English language skills 
    • Gain skills and knowledge in the content areas of the curriculum in keeping with state objectives in these areas

    -Center for Applied Linguistics

    Students in the Government Hill Spanish Immersion Program follow the same curriculum adopted by the Ê®·ÖÁùºÏ²Ê as students in the English-only programs. 

    In Kindergarten and First Grade, we have two team teachers (one Spanish teacher and one English teacher). The students are in each class for half of the day. They switch classes mid-day. We also have a stand-alone teacher. A stand-alone teacher is one who teaches English half of the day and Spanish the other half of the day. 

    In 2nd through 6th grade we have team teachers, with the exception of one 2/3 class which is a stand-alone classroom. 

    Reading and Math are taught in English

    Science, Social Studies and Spanish Language Arts are taught in Spanish.