Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District

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Dual Immersion

Updated: August 9, 2024

What is Dual Immersion (DI)? 

Dual Immersion programs facilitate biliteracy – the ability to speak, listen, read, and write proficiently in two languages.   

 

The goal of dual immersion is to develop biliteracy, academic excellence, and positive cross-cultural and personal competencies.   

 

This first iteration of Dual Immersion will be in Spanish. 

Dual Immersion Locations 

DI will be offered at Lunada Bay only.

PVPUSD will follow the one-way immersion which means that a Vast majority of students speak the primary language (English) and are learning the target language (Spanish) together. This differs from a two-way model where 50% of students speak the target language (Spanish) and 50% speak the primary language (English). In this model all students learn to be biliterate in the target language.  

PVPUSD opted for Spanish for the following reasons: 

  • Most readily available curricular resources and professional development for teachers  
  • Adopted curriculum comes in Spanish, supplemental materials already available  
  • Availability of Bilingual credentialed teachers in any language is hard to come by but Spanish is the most common and has largest pool  
  • Collegiality of other Spanish Immersion teachers/schools  
  • Natural pathways through intermediate and high school already  
  • Can always build and develop over time 

The majority of the day and core subject content areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) will be taught fully in Spanish; PE will be in English.  

Dual Immersion

  1. A student must be enrolled/pre-enrolled in PVPUSD to be eligible to participate in the dual immersion program. For information about enrolling your student, click here. 
  2. Between August 5 – August 12, 2024 submit a request to attend through the Aeries parent portal.  Applicants will be prioritized based on school of residence/attendance until we meet site capacity.  Applicants will receive status notifications by end of April.  For more information about our intradistrict transfer process and guidelines, click here. 
  1. The 2-Step Enrollment process must be completed prior to applying for the lottery.  
  2. The final application window will be August 9 – 14, 2024.   
  3. Students will be notified of their application status by August 15, 2024.  
  • Priority enrollment will go to students who have Lunada Bay as their homeschool. 
  • Spanish speakers do not get priority as it is a 1-way immersion, but they are not precluded from the program. 
  • There will be a lottery for all other students in the District, if the class capacity is not reached with students in the residential boundaries of Lunada Bay. 
  • Families that move into the district after March may enter the lottery in July, if space remains. 
  • 6-year commitment  
  • Same cohort of students 
  • Learning development may look different than that of their English only peers 
  • Leaving dual immersion before the end of 5th grade could impact promotion to the next grade level 

Common Questions and Answers

No, parents do not need to speak Spanish.  Continue normal routines in English or home language (reading, watching educational videos, etc.) 
If dual immersion is not working, multiple meetings with the principal and teacher should be held to determine next steps and if exiting is in the best interest for the student.  
Siblings will need to enter the lottery.   
An intra district transfer would need to be completed and, if space permits, a move could be possible. 
Yes, all students can apply.  
No, students are placed based on their application. If a student needs to switch schools, they would need to re-enter the lottery.  
The District and classroom teachers will provide professional learning opportunities for parents/guardians.  
PVPUSD will build a pathway for intermediate school. 
TK is not an option for the 24-25 school year. TK is transitioning to a universal 4-year- old program and in the midst of redesigning its curriculum.    
Yes, first support should always begin in the classroom with the teacher who is creating space to give additional support for those who may need it to stay caught up.  If a student needs more support, the site team will meet to determine next steps.  
No and in fact, could potentially disrupt the learning process. This is not necessary.  Children need to organically learn both languages and the development of biliteracy will happen, over time.   
Students will receive report cards, like every other grade.  Students will be assessed on the kindergarten standards with added feedback related to acquisition of Spanish