By Erica Chayes Wida, Staff Writer
“This is a presentation about forward thinking, about inclusion and about all the things that Princeton Public Schools stands for,” said Dineen Gruchacz, principal at Community Park Elementary School as she opened her report on the Dual Language Immersion program to the Board of Education Tuesday.
DLI was launched as a pilot program for kindergarten and first graders at the schoolat the start of the 2015 school year. This year, the program — which provides half the core curriculum to be taught in English and half in Spanish to all participating students — has expanded to include the second grade as well.
Ms. Gruchacz explained that the school’s immersion and world language programs are model programs in the state. The program at Community Park is headed by supervisor of world languages Priscilla Russel.
The DLI kindergarten class is taught by Sheila Aguilar, the first-grade class by Damaris Rodriguez, and the second-grade class by Ida Almodovar.
Ms. Gruchacz noted how in only a year of experience, the results that prove DLI’s success at the school is evident, particularly in seeing children engaged in the classroom, which to her is “the very best part.”
“I invite you to stop at Community Park School. Visit us. Visit the classrooms. Seeing it in the video is one thing but being in the classroom is quite a different thing. These are not actors, these are students, our students, our children, my kids, and I’m just so proud of what they’ve done and what the teachers have been able to do,” Ms. Gruchacz said.
The school hosts “Cafecitos” for parents of DLI students or non-DLI parents who are curious about the program to meet, communicate, and be able to address any questions about a 50-50 curriculum or express any worries.
According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, the goal of the DLI program is to “develop high levels of language proficiency and literacy in both program languages, to demonstrates high levels of academic achievement, and to develop an appreciation for and understanding of diverse cultures.” Community Park aims specifically to have DLI students be proficient in English and the new language, achieve academic success, and develop intercultural competence.
In addition to teaching in both English and Spanish, the school’s DLI staff has worked to see how a transformative program such as this would have an effect on a small town. They consult with outside experts on an ongoing basis, visit other model programs — not many of which exist in the state — form study and planning groups as well as a steering committee, and host informational sessions.
Thus far, Ms. Gruchacz and her team have learned that participating children develop greater cognitive flexibility, increased attention control, better memory, and superior problem-solving skills. The 50-50 model has also proven to give students higher adequacy in speaking a second language than any other language development model.
“These are all the kinds of things we would want for our children,” Ms. Gruchacz said. “There is a learning curve and it is amazing to watch. We do stay in the language. We have been very dedicated to and implemented this program with fidelity. If you want good results you have to have good implementation.”
Following Ms. Gruchacz’s presentation, the board approved the continuation of DLI at Community Park and expanded its reach by one grade level every year: 2017-2018 (K-3), 2018-2019 (K-4), 2019-2020 (K-5). Eligibility for the program is based on DLI research of student performance related to language acquisition, parent interest, and classroom capacity. If parent interest exceeds classroom capacity, the school will hold a lottery.
In other news:* The school board appointed Spiezle Architectural Group to provide professional services for improvements to Valley Road School, including planning and schematic design for a fee of $18,400 to adapt the building back into a school and relocate the administration spaces, as well as designing, documenting, bidding and construction services for a fee of 6.95 percent of total construction cost. * The board recognized the following retirees: Bonnie Lehet, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, after 16 years of service, effective Jan. 1, 2017; and Deborah Zak, occupational therapist, Littlebrook Elementary/John Witherspoon Middle School, after 21 years of service, effective June 30, 2017. The board thanked Ms. Lehet and Ms. Zak for their efforts on behalf of students, parents, staff, and community members over their years of service in the district.
* The board welcomed recently elected board members Greg Stankiewicz, William Hare and Debbie Bronfeld.
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