Red Clay signals 'phasing out' of Spanish immersion at one elementary school

Red Clay Consolidated School District shared plans of "phasing out" Spanish immersion instruction at one of its Wilmington-area elementary schools.

For Marbook Elementary parents — who heard about the move scanning a short letter sent home on Nov. 6 — it means their children can seemingly finish any current program, while no future Dolphins would have the same opportunity. In its letter, Red Clay cited resource constraints and class-size reductions demanding the change.

After today's kindergarten class leaves fifth grade at Marbrook, if Red Clay moves forward, the school would no longer offer Spanish immersion. Red Clay's Linden Hill Elementary shuttered its Chinese immersion to new students after tumultuous public reaction in 2021. This could leave one of Delaware's pioneering districts in Dual-Language Immersion programs with just one elementary school hosting new offerings: William C. Lewis Dual Language Elementary School.

"I know this is a numbers thing," said one mom, Laura Mackiewicz, sensing a lack of answers and warning from her district.

"But this is the start in the right direction of what education should look like for the people of tomorrow. So it's so frustrating. Like, if it's not fitting a certain box for higher levels, look at the human part of it — multiple kids from different places, learning a language, embracing diversity at the start."

Mackiewicz affectionately calls Spanish her "secret language" with her oldest daughter.

Now in Marbrook's immersion program in first grade, her daughter can already share phrases back and forth with mom — while dad can't understand. Mackiewicz didn't master the language herself until after undergrad, so the mother of two chose Marbrook for the opportunity to expose her children to language early, aiming to set them up for success.

She hoped her son, heading to kindergarten next year, would get the same opportunity.

"I'm at a loss of what to do," she said. "My son was one year too late to join a cohort, and there is no guarantee that the program will remain strong for my daughter and her fellow students for the remainder of her years at Marbrook."

A Red Clay spokesperson told Delaware Online/The News Journal that no decision has yet been finalized — as the district looks to offer more information and field family input in a parent meeting set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the school. In its letter to parents, families were told the phase-out was happening and asked to check a box to opt-out or stay in Spanish immersion.

Parents plan to show up Tuesday.

"We chose moving and living in the Red Clay School District for Spanish immersion, for the schools up here, the supposed embracing of diverse communities and cultures and how they incorporate that into schools," Mackiewicz said.

"And now, I'm not sure if that's true anymore."

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'If we say nothing, it will be eliminated'

Jenny Chorman knew this sounded familiar.

Parents just like her were shocked in March 2021, when a Friday announcement shared Red Clay's plans to dissolve its Chinese Immersion program by year's end. Echoing this November's reasoning, district leaders cited declining interest and low enrollment. A week later the district saw some 75 parents protesting the move, alongside other grassroots organizing among families, outside the New Castle County elementary school.

In a meeting with parents, Superintendent Dorrell Green walked back the initial decision within the next week.

But that only ensured current families would keep their spots. By June, the district said 50 new kindergarteners would be needed to preserve the program. Such figures wouldn't be met.

"If we say nothing, it will be eliminated," said Chorman, mother of a Marbrook kindergartener and one second-grader. The Columbia native jumped at the chance to enroll her kids in Spanish-immersive instruction, having taken six years to feel proficient in English herself when she moved to the U.S. The program is the only reason she chose Marbrook.

When Chorman heard it was threatened, she tried to hit the ground running. She organized concerned parents with surveys, sought more information from the school and hopes to fight for the program to stay. She says she doesn't understand why previous warnings never came.

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In immersion programs, some attrition is inevitable. Numbers drop because students most often cannot enter after first grade, while some enrolled will move or change course. Classes typically come with a 50-50 split between instruction in English and the target language, evolving as students reach older levels. Over 10 years after such programs launched in Delaware, Spanish immersion was offered in 46 Delaware schools to about 8,500 students by 2022.

"The program works," Chorman said. "I don't understand why everyone isn't doing this."

Red Clay Consolidated School District has not given any specific benchmarks that could preserve Marbrook's program. A spokesperson nodded toward Tuesday's meeting for answers — noting parents will "definitely have an opportunity to voice their opinion, to ask questions, and hopefully to leave there with answers and a resolve for what's going forward in the future of the program."

Fellow mom Mackiewicz doesn't know what to do.

Her daughter has a community at Marbrook, while she just joined the PTO. Lewis Elementary could be the only Red Clay school offering her son the same opportunity, she said, if not heading to another district school over 20 minutes away.

She hasn't been able to explain it to either of her young students.

"I want to invest in our school, invest in the neighborhood that we are a part of, and Marbrook is a part of that," she said. "So they've been a little like: 'What's happening? Why are you so sad?' And also like, 'Well, why?' And I say, 'I can't even — I can't really explain to you why.'"

If you go

What: Parent information meeting concerning Spanish Immersion program at Marbrook Elementary

When: 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 5

Where: Marbrook Elementary School, 2101 Centerville Road, Prices Corner

Got a story? Kelly Powers covers race, culture and equity for Delaware Online and USA TODAY Network Northeast, with a focus on education. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Red Clay signals 'phasing out' of Spanish immersion at Marbrook