Bilingual Education
Vida Charter School is a bilingual (English- Spanish) school. In a special bilingual model, called dual immersion, students have reading classes in both languages and rotate academic units in English and Spanish. This allows children to become fully bilingual and bi-literate. Students at Vida Charter School are required to master both languages, giving them an advantage over their monolingual peers. This is an opportunity that is often only available in cities, but the Hanover/ Gettysburg area now has access to this program.
People learn by building on their prior knowledge. This is true of language as well! Children with a strong foundation in their native language are able to further develop a second language. Research shows the benefits of bilingualism; "A major longitudinal study released in 1991 by the U.S. Department of Education found that the more schools developed children's native-language skills, the higher they scored academically over the long term in English. Students also benefited from acquiring fluency and literacy in two languages" (NABE, 2004). Bilingual education serves as a tool to improve English and academic outcomes as well as learn a second language!
You may be wondering, "If this is true, why aren't we implementing bilingual education everywhere?" Bilingual education requires teachers to 
be fluent in a second language, which is difficult on a large scale. However, there are successful bilingual programs all over the country. In fact, there are successful bilingual programs all over the world!
To find out more about bilingual education check out the website for the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE): http://www.nabe.org/education/index.html
Articles documenting the success of bilingual education can be accessed from the following webpage: http://www.bilingualeducation.org/resources_public_articles.php
Two-Way Immersion
Dual language programs use two languages for literacy and content instruction for all students. In the United States, programs use English and a partner language, often Spanish. The programs provide the same academic content and address the same standards as other educational programs. They provide instruction in the two languages over an extended period of time, from kindergarten through at least fifth grade. Instruction is in the partner language at least 50% of the time.
