School district brings in teachers from Spain, expands dual language immersion

The Madison Metropolitan School District hired seven new teachers from Spain this year as part of its efforts to immerse students in the Spanish language.

Isabel Simonetti, the school district’s bilingual personnel analyst, said the decision stemmed from an insufficient number of certified bilingual teachers in the U.S.

“We have a very strict process of testing applicants, because they’re going to be teaching children how to write and spell and use correct grammar. So some people will pass the [spoken] language test but when it comes time to take the written test, they’ll have trouble passing,” Simonetti said.

Simonetti, who was in charge of the MMSD program, said this program with the Embassy of Spain is in place and working very well in Chicago, as well as in other districts in Illinois and other states.

“That’s a very high-need area, and we’re a high-need area,” Simonetti said. “It’s important to find teachers who aren’t just bilingual but are certified in teaching.”

The seven new teachers are placed at East High School, Crestwood Elementary School, Sandburg Elementary School, and Nuestro Mundo Community School for the 2012-13 school year.

In addition to bringing in native speakers from Spain to teach, the dual language immersion program has expanded to five elementary schools, including Glendale, and Sennett Middle School since the program started in 2004. Plans are in place for additional dual language immersion programs at three additional middle schools and LaFollette High School.

The dual language immersion program in Madison schools began with the opening of the district’s Nuestro Mundo charter school in 2004. The school features a complete Spanish/English immersion program for students with a goal of achieving language fluency at a young age.

June Glennon, the school district’s employment manager, said teaching students literacy in Spanish has been proven to help children become better at their first language – English for most students in Madison.

Bryan Grau, a social studies teacher from LaFollette High School, said the school has about 200 kids who speak Spanish at home. In total, around 12 percent of MMSD students speak Spanish at home, said Simonetti.

Simonetti said next year the school district will begin by looking at applicants from Wisconsin, but if not enough qualified applicants are found, they will broaden their search to Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.