BSD expands popular program, Dual language education

#Fox12Oregon

More parents will soon have the option of enrolling their kids in a dual language program in the Beaverton School District. The district has plans to expand its dual language program so that eventually all kids in the district will have the option of a dual language education from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Right now Vose Elementary is one of a handful of schools in the Beaverton School District that educates its students in English and Spanish. But over the next two years, the district plans to have dual language education available in three to four more schools – and not just in English and Spanish — but in other languages as well.

Parents have requested a wide range of languages — from Arabic to Somali and Mandarin Chinese.

“The students are going to be more prepared for a global society to and have the facility to go anywhere they want or find better jobs or more options for jobs because they are bilingual,” says 4th grade teacher Saulo Hernandez.

The Beaverton School District plans to add dual language classrooms at the elementary school level first, then work up through middle and high school so that eventually kids can get a dual language education K-12.

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