Herricks educators celebrate first graduates of K-12 Spanish-language immersion program

group of educators at the Herricks Public School District in Nassau County on Long Island are breaking new ground — they’re teaching in New York state’s only fully immersive K-12 Spanish language program. The program graduated its first class of K-12 immersion students in June.

It’s the equivalent of “dropping students off in a Spanish-speaking country,” explained Llilian Vera, Herricks Teachers Association. She teaches third-grade Spanish-language math and science classes at the Denton Avenue Elementary School, which houses Herricks’ K-5 immersion program.

Launched as a voluntary option for first-grade students at the start of the 2010 school year, Herricks’ immersion program now starts in kindergarten and offers 48 student slots. Currently 524 of the district’s roughly 4,000 students participate.

At the elementary school, each grade offers one English and one Spanish teacher. Vera’s kids, like all elementary-level immersion students, follow a split-day routine, spending half the day learning in English, and the other half learning Spanish-language math and science. Educators work as a team, consulting about lesson plans to ensure blocks mirror each other.

The curriculum for sixth, seventh and eighth grade immersion students at Herricks Middle School includes two Spanish language courses — a specially designed class based on themes from the Advanced Placement “Spanish Language and Culture” course, and a Spanish-language social studies class. Middle and high school immersion teachers work closely since students earn high school credit after three years of middle school immersion course work.

Katherine Kirschner, Herricks TA, teaches the AP-centered immersion course to seventh and eighth graders. Unlike traditional middle school foreign language learners, immersion students are more comfortable speaking, rather than reading or writing, Spanish. “The grammar is still a challenge for them — they would speak Spanish all day long if you let them,” she said.

In high school, immersion students take honors Spanish as ninth graders, AP Spanish in 10th grade and a college-level Spanish class in subsequent years. The district is hoping to partner with a college or university so students can eventually earn college credits.Twelfth grade Spanish educator Jennifer Gallo, Herricks TA, teaches “Writers, thinkers and artists of the Spanish speaking world,” a Spanish-language literature course typically offered at the college level. “They’re learning about Don Quixote and other authors I studied in college,” said Gallo noting that “they’re much more immersed in the language and culture.”

The 22 June graduates received the NYS Seal of Biliteracy. To learn more about the Herricks Spanish Language Immersion program, visit herricks.org/domain/107.