New Brooklyn Charter Promises To Make Kids Bilingual By 5th Grade

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Opening a dual-language school might not be a new idea in New York City, but that doesn't mean Sunset Park's new Spanish-English academy won't be unique, founder Roberto Gutierrez said.

LEEP Dual-Language Academy, a nonprofit charter opening later this year, will be the first school in the city to use a unique immersion model to teaching children two languages, which Gutierrez said has been proven to offer students the most out of a bilingual education.

Students will start with 90 percent of their school day in Spanish in kindergarten and gradually move to a 50-50 split by the fourth grade, with the promise that they will be both bilingual and biliterate in Spanish and English by fifth grade.

And although this approach hasn't been tried out in New York City, Gutierrez said in visiting other immersion model schools around the country, he realized it was the most gratifying way to model a dual-language program

"What I did was try to find the most rigorous model where kids were doing best," he said. "Research that's out there on dual-language instruction (shows) that when you start children learning at an early age, their brains get wired differently. They will do better in school, be more creative, be critical thinkers — and all of that data is borne out anecdotally."

The school will specifically teach in Spanish and English as a way to give back to the vibrant Latino community in Sunset Park, Gutierrez said. LEEP has found a building to lease in Sunset Park and will be announcing where it is once the lease is signed, he added.

The idea to open a "culturally affirming" school for Latino children had been a dream of Gutierrez's for several years, he said, but really became a vision four years ago as he met families in Sunset Park.

He discovered many felt that new generations of their family might be losing the language or culture as they become further removed from their native countries.

"That gift of language, that gift of culture, was generally seen in public school system as something to be in woven out in lieu of English," said Gutierrez, who moved to Brooklyn in 2005. "What we’re saying is: English is desperately important…but not at the cost of losing your identity."

LEEP will aim to maintain Spanish for families who are looking for a way to embrace their Latino culture. But, it will also focus on preparing its students to work and thrive in the English-speaking world, he said.

Gutierrez, from a family of Mexican immigrants himself, said the idea is both personal to him and so far has been embraced by Sunset Park's residents.

"I started to realize how much of this community reminded of my birth communities in Mexico and south Texas," he said. "They sound like my dad, they sound like my mom, they sound like the people I grew up with — these families are just like mine."

He stresses, though, that LEEP will not only be open to those who are already bilingual or of Latino heritage, he said.

Students who do not speak any Spanish or do not speak much English — and even who do not have parents that speak one of the languages — are invited to apply.

"We want all kids to learn together," Gutierrez said.

The immersion into Spanish will let children pick up the language quickly and a daily English Language Arts class will help those that do not speak much English to begin with, the website said. The staff will also be fluent in both languages to help parents who speak either only English or only Spanish.

The school will eventually serve children kindergarten through fifth grade, but will start with a class of 153 kindergartners and first graders in its first year. After four years, LEEP will apply to expand to kindergarten through eighth grade, Gutierrez said.

Applications for the first two classes of students have already flooded in, Gutierrez said. LEEP was still accepting applications as of May 13.