Flowery hosts dual immersion info night in Sonoma

Parents of children entering kindergarten in the fall of 2017 are invited to the 20th annual Dual Immersion Kindergarten Information Night at Flowery Elementary School from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31. For families thinking about enrolling their children at Flowery, this is the night to learn about the program and ask questions. Childcare will be provided.

Dual immersion staff and parents will explain how curricula and teaching resources in both English and Spanish are used to deliver a Common Core Standards-based program. The evening will include a few words from students, an overview of dual immersion, demo lessons and open discussion groups for both English and Spanish-speaking parents of prospective students.

“Based on a successful model developed in the 1960s in Quebec, dual immersion education provides children with fluency and literacy in two languages while cultivating greater cognitive flexibility, increased attention control, better memory and enhanced problem-solving skills,” says Principal Esmeralda Mosely.

Dual immersion at Flowery began in 1998 with 20 students and a $1,000,000 Title VII grant. In December 2004, the school board voted to make Flowery a “dual immersion school of choice.” Then in 2006, Flowery was awarded a $500,000 Foreign Language Assistance Program grant to support final expansion. In partnership with Adele Harrison’s dual immersion program, Flowery was awarded the Jack London Award for Educational Innovation in 2009 by Sonoma State University’s School of Education.

Dual immersion extends through fifth grade at Flowery and grades 6-8 at Adele Harrison Middle School. There are almost 500 dual immersion students in grades K-8. Flowery’s first dual immersion class graduated from Sonoma Valley High School in 2011 including valedictorian, Noah Huyette.

Flowery Elementary School is located on Depot Road just off of Highway 12 in Fetters Hot Springs. For further information, visit floweryschool.org/. To schedule a tour, call 935-6060.