- Lalaine Perez, Executive Director, Ext. 181501
- Patricia Pimentel, Coordinator, Ext. 181523
- Dr. Nancy Rojas, Coordinator, Ext. 181525
- Olvia (Angie) Amador, District Biliteracy Resource Teacher,
Ext. 181506
- Reina Galvez, District Biliteracy Resource Teacher,
Ext. 181552
Building Cultural Bridges
The Chula Vista Elementary School District recognizes that the complex and diverse needs of a growing and changing population possessing a variety of values, backgrounds, and preparations pose special challenges for educators, business leaders, and policy makers in the United States.
The Dual Language Immersion program can provide unique teaching and learning opportunities for all its participants: students, parents, teachers, administrators, and communities. Dual Language Immersion education serves as a linguistic and cultural bridge for all, and it helps to embrace and promote linguistic and cultural pluralism inside and outside the school. The District is committed to supporting our schools in offering Dual Language Immersion programs that will prepare our future citizens with the necessary academic and linguistic competencies to be highly qualified individuals and to be competitive in a global society.
What is the Dual Language Immersion Program?
The Dual Language Immersion Program is a language-oriented program designed to build fluency in both Spanish and English. Native Spanish and English-speaking children have the opportunity to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in both languages. With more than 6,000 students overall, the District's Dual Language Immersion program is one of the fastest growing in the District. What do parents say about the program? Find out in this brief video in English and Spanish.
CVLCC was the first school to open a Dual Language Immersion program as part of its charter in 1998, but our first District school was Heritage Elementary. The 90/10 program started at Heritage in 2001 and began with kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade. Since then, we have continued to grow, and with each new school that our District opens, our parents overwhelmingly request Dual Language Immersion. CVESD has a history of over 22 year of establishing and growing our Dual Language Immersion programs and we are very proud to be able to offer this program to our families.
There are 23 schools that offer a Dual Language Immersion program
- Arroyo Vista Charter
- Camarena (Enrique) Elementary
- Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (Schoolwide)
- Clear View Elementary
- Discovery Charter
- EastLake Elementary
- Feaster Charter
- Harborside Elementary
- Hedenkamp (Anne & William) Elementary
- Heritage Elementary
- Jeffers (Fahari L.) Elementary
- Lauderbach (J. Calvin) Elementary
- Liberty Elementary
- Loma Verde Elementary
- Los Altos Elementary
- Muraoka (Saburo) Elementary
- Rice (Lillian J.) Elementary
- Salt Creek Elementary
- Silver Wing Elementary
- Tiffany (Burton C.) Elementary
- Valle Lindo Elementary
- Valley Vista Elementary
- Veterans Elementary
Students develop full oral and reading and writing proficiency in two languages. To learn more about Dual Language Immersion Program, view the Dual Language Immersion Program for parents below:
Dual Language School Directory
2022-2023 List of DL Schools
2023-2024 List of DL Schools
Dual Language Immersion Program (English) click here
Dual Language Immersion Program (Spanish) click here
What are the Goals of Dual Language Education?
The overarching goals of our Dual Language Immersion programs follow the three pillars of Dual Language Education:
1. Bilingualism and Biliteracy
2. High Academic Achievement
3. Socio-cultural Competency
Benefits of the Dual Language Immersion Program
Recent studies indicate this Dual Language Immersion model is one of the most successful programs in teaching a second language. This program offers a unique opportunity for both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students to become bilingual and biliterate in both English and Spanish. We encourage our native Spanish-speaking students to participate in this assets-based program where they can acquire English while maintaining their primary language, thereby allowing for higher levels of English language achievement. View video in Spanish for additional information.
Additional benefits to bilingualism include increased academic achievement. In CVESD our students in our Dual Language Immersion programs consistently outperform our students in non-Dual Language Immersion classrooms. Other benefits include developing an appreciation for other cultures and languages, increased job opportunities, and research has show a delay in the onset of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia.
Student Enrollment
All students can benefit from participating in our programs, and parents are encouraged to become familiar with the Dual Language Immersion Program before they decide to enroll their child. School sites hold parent information meetings during enrollment season and we encourage parents to attend to understand the program and the commitment. It is recommended that English-speaking students enroll in TK, kindergarten or first grade. For the Spanish-speaking student, placement is also recommended at the primary grades. If there is no space available, the student will be placed on a waiting list by language (English, Spanish, or bilingual).