By Ronald Crates
The Hollister School District is pleased to offer students and
parents new educational opportunities and school choice provided by
the International Dual Immersion Language Academy and the
Accelerated Achievement Academy.
The Hollister School District is pleased to offer students and parents new educational opportunities and school choice provided by the International Dual Immersion Language Academy and the Accelerated Achievement Academy.
Parents and students will have a choice to have their students attend a K-8 school on the Gabilan Hills or Calaveras campuses. Thus, the magnet (to attract) is offering school choice based around an educational theme and grade level configuration choice to students and parents.
International Dual
Immersion Academy
Our community has a major “built in” resource of many students and families who are bilingual. This resource should be used for the benefit of all students and the school community.
The International Dual Immersion Academy is starting in kindergarten and first grade beginning in August 2007.
The academy offers a language immersion program in 50 percent English and 50 percent Spanish. Students who successfully complete the full multiyear program will emerge as bilingual and biliterate individuals geared for success in our new international communities.
Highlights of the program are instruction in two languages in all subject areas at a level that will ensure success beyond eighth grade. Content and performance standards will be met by students in both English and Spanish, and instruction will be delivered in listening, speaking, reading and writing in both languages.
Students will also become appreciative of other cultures and world views.Workshops will be offered to parents in both English and Spanish in order for them to help their children be successful in the program.
Of course, any educational program is dependent on highly qualified teachers. We are fortunate in the Hollister School District to have excellent teachers and the International Dual Language Academy will be seeking staff that is bilingual and biliterate and have a passion for the dual immersion model. I am confident we will have a highly qualified staff working with children in this exciting program.
The program will expect a great deal from students, but also from parents. Parents are expected to attend workshops in Spanish and English and also to volunteer in the classroom and/or at the school.
Admission is open to all students in the Hollister School District attendance area. All entering kindergarten and first-grade students are welcome to apply.
The model is designed so that each grade level comprises a comparable number of students who begin the program as “English only,” “Spanish only” or bilingual.
Accelerated Achievement Academy
The Accelerated Achievement Academy is designed for high-achieving and gifted students. The academy will open in August 2007 on the Calaveras campus. It will serve students in third, fourth and fifth grade and ultimately will expand from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Students will move at an accelerated pace through the curriculum and dig deeper into the content and performance standards by demonstrating higher-level thinking skills. Activities are designed to challenge students’ critical, logical and creative thinking. Students and faculty will participate in unique enrichment classes that will offer students the opportunity to examine and explore projects and research based designs.
The Accelerated Achievement Academy is intended to meet the unique social and emotional needs of high-achieving students by keeping them actively engaged in hands-on learning activities. By compacting the curriculum, students will have time to examine and explore projects and research based designs.
The teaching staff must have gifted and talented education certification and will receive staff development on strategies and methods related to the high achieving classroom.
All students currently in second, third and fourth grade in the Hollister School District attendance area are welcome to apply. Admission to the Accelerated Achievement Academy are based on the following criteria:California Standards Test score, Nonverbal Intelligence Test, teacher observations, parent observational scale, report cards, and task commitment scale to be successful. The school district has identified students from all economic, racial and ethnic groups who will qualify for the program.
The parent expectations will be high. Parents will be expected to sign an agreement detailing their understanding that they are expected to be involved in the school and offer their talents to the school program.
To date, the Dual Immersion Program at Gabilan Hills has more applicants than space available. We have a total of 80 spaces in combined kindergarten and first grade, with 95 applicants.
There are still a few openings at each grade level in the Accelerated Achievement School at Calaveras.There are a total of 80 spaces in grades three through five, with 14 available. We have sent out letters to families whose students who qualify for the program and will have meetings at each elementary school site for second-, third- and fourth-grade parents.
As in any startup, success is dependent upon the energies that have been expended up front in developing the program. A major thank you and praise is given to members of the Magnet School Task Force. The task force has been meeting for more than 15 months, devoting a great amount of time and energy exploring the possibility and planning for these two programs.
I am also grateful to the members of our Board of Education who had the vision to give me and the school community the opportunity to being this initiative.
Ronald Crates is superintendent of the Hollister School District.
