Information about Perkerson Elementary, 2040 Brewer Blvd., Atlanta, is online at www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/Domain/695.
Two years ago, Shawn Bender found himself leading the right Atlanta public school at the right time. He had just moved to Georgia from Washington D.C., where he had been part of a school with a dual-language immersion program. That was the same year Gov. Nathan Deal announced an initiative to establish several Spanish immersion programs in the state.
Bender jumped at the chance and applied, and was rewarded by having Perkerson Elementary named one of six in the state to offer the program for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
“In D.C., I saw the benefits of this program, and I wanted to bring it here for kids and the community,” said Bender. “But it was so new that, at first, the response I got wasn’t all that positive. I talked about it with the teachers and parents and introduced them to research and, after many meetings with experts, they were open to the idea.”
Parents from across the city who were interested in having their incoming kindergartners spend half a day learning in Spanish applied to the program, and 34 students, mostly from the surrounding neighborhood, enrolled in the first class. None of them spoke a word of the foreign language.
“As people began to see these students speaking and learning content in Spanish, we had a broader response,” said Bender. “The next year, we got applications from more folks not in our community, and this year, I expect even more.”
Parents and students must commit to staying in the program through fifth grade. While there, the youngsters take courses in math, science and social studies in Spanish. The results have been positive, developing solid second-language skills and getting students enthused about coming to school.
“These students are way more excited and ready to learn than most,” said Bender. “They’re more confident, and they’re showing better results in our assessments already.”
The positive results come as no surprise to teacher Isadora Arzu, a native of Honduras who has been with the Atlanta Public Schools three years before initiating the immersion program at Perkerson.
“These kids are willing to learn, they’re confident and proud, and that’s what a second language does to the brain,” she said. “They’ve become great problem solvers and risk-takers, and they’re more tolerant of other cultures.”
Parents have also become more engaged, said Bender. Hope Dixon is one who has been excited about the language progress her 5-year-old son, Lorenz, has been making in the immersion kindergarten class this year.
“He came here for pre-K last year, and when I heard about this program, I knew he needed to be in it,” said Dixon, who lives in the nearby Sylvan Hills neighborhood and does not speak Spanish. “In a month, the kids were responding. I came up here to volunteer and saw that progress day by day, month by month, and it was impressive.”
Knowing a second language, Dixon believes, is critical to her son’s future.
“By being bilingual in America, he will be able to excel as he gets older,” she said. “It introduces him to another culture that will help with his understanding of society at large. And most of all, he really enjoys learning it.”
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