Phoenix Union to launch its 1st dual language immersion program at Carl Hayden High School
Phoenix Union High School District is set to launch its first dual language immersion program this August.
The Spanish and English dual language program will open at Carl Hayden High School at the start of the 2024-25 school year to a group of about 100 ninth graders.
The goal of the four-year program is for students to earn a seal of biliteracy from the Arizona Department of Education on their high school diplomas, according to Carl Hayden Principal Julio Rubio.
It will be the first high school-level dual language program in Phoenix offered by a public school district. With the program's launch, Phoenix Union will join several elementary schools in the Phoenix area that offer dual language immersion programs.
The district is also joining a growing trend of Valley high schools offering dual language immersion programs.
In the East Valley, two of Tempe Union High School District's schools offer dual language programs; both started in the past few years. One of Mesa Public Schools' high schools launched a dual language program this school year, and the district is planning to start two more next school year, according to the district's website. Scottsdale Unified offers Mandarin-English and Spanish-English dual language programs at the high school level.
Who can participate in Carl Hayden's dual language program?
The new program at Carl Hayden will be for both native English and native Spanish speakers, which gives students the "opportunity to practice the language and to learn from one another," Rubio said.
Students must have a certain level of proficiency in both languages to be able to join, he said.
The program will be a way for students who participated in dual language immersion programs in elementary school to continue developing their Spanish.
Ninth graders will take an algebra and a language arts class in Spanish and the rest of their core classes and electives in English while also having a dual language advisory period.
"We want our students to celebrate their cultural assets and their linguistic assets that they come to us with," Rubio said of students whose first language is Spanish. "We don't want to suppress them."
Now, native Spanish speakers don't necessarily have classroom opportunities to develop their first language at school, he added.
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"We're preparing our students to be global citizens. Especially in a state like Arizona, we have so many opportunities with our largest economic partner, which is Mexico," he said. "So, ensuring that our students are able to communicate in both languages opens those opportunities."
Madeleine Parrish covers K-12 education. Reach her at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Union to launch its first dual language immersion program
