Southern Lehigh School District Holds Informational Session for Popular Spanish Immersion Program Tonight

Tonight, Liberty Bell Elementary School will hold an informational session for families considering enrolling their incoming 1st graders in the popular Spanish Immersion program. The program, open to students within the Southern Lehigh School District, completely immerses the students in Spanish for daily work as well as language classes. When the program started in 1989, it became the first program if it’s kind in the state of Pennsylvania.

"From the first day, the teacher's lessons are in Spanish," said Liberty Bell principal Sam Hafner. Students in the program only speak Spanish in the classroom from 1st through 3rd grade, when English is introduced for limited instruction.

The "Spanish only" approach, along with the larger class size, about 29 students per class) are a few of the reasons that Spanish Immersion may not be a fit for every child. " If your child needs more one-on-one time with an instructor, this may not be the program for them," said Hafner. Additionally, there is no learning support for students with special needs for the program.

But that doesn't deter families from wanting to place their child in the class. "Every year, we fill the class," said Hafner. "We generally have a waiting list for entry into the program."

The program accepts the first 29 students who apply for the program. Registration begins March 29th. Information on the website for the immersion program reminding parents that no one is allowed on campus before 5pm that Tuesday hints at just how competitive families can be for those 29 slots.

"I've heard the stories," said Hafner. "One year, the police came out to keep the piece. We used to hold registration on Mondays, but people were camping out. Normally [parents in line] tend to put rules in place and self-govern, but occasionally it can get heated."

It's not just Southern Lehigh parents trying to get students into the program. "I have received a handful of calls over the years. 'Do you accept tuition?' 'My child is in the East Penn district, can I pay to get them into the program?'. We don't do any of those, so we just have to turn them away," said Hafner.

The informational session for 2011-2012 incoming 1st grade families starts at 6:30pm at Liberty Bell Elementary.