Orange County schools to start ‘blending languages' in classroom diversity program

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools has teamed up with the Helios Education Foundation and the OC Repertory Theatre to implement a dual-language learning environment.

The research-based program comes with a $1.6 million grant and will target  students at nine schools and 11 pre-K classrooms in Orange County.

The idea is to help students relate to each other via their own language, regardless of what their native tongue is, Helios Education Foundation spokeswoman Grace Maseda said.

“Some students will have Spanish as their native language, some will not,” she said. “And that’s the magic of this program.”

Students will learn half the time in one language, and half in the other Maseda said.

“What that means to students is that they will be immersed in the delivery in the curriculum in both English and Spanish,” she said. “Fifty percent of the time in English, and 50 percent of the time in Spanish.”

Parent Fei Xue, who already speaks two languages in her home, thinks the program is a great idea and will benefit the students’ young, growing minds.

“The brain is like a sponge,” she said. “They can soak in so much and you think about the development and growth.

“By growing up in a world and having two languages will definitely add an advantage to them, whether if it’s in the workforce or anything.”

The $1.6 million grant will maintain the program for four years, at which point it would be up to Orange County Schools to continue, or cancel it, the Helios Education Foundation said.

"Their brain is like a sponge. They can soak in so much and you think about the development and growth. By growing up in a world and having two languages will definitely add an advantage to them whether if it's in the workforce or anything," Xue said.

"Whether it be Spanish, Mandarin...we're an international community so it's going to help employability," said Dr. Barbara Jenkins, OCPS Superintendent.

Cox Media Group