Willow Lake Elementary School

Vision
The Metropolitan School District of Washington Township Schools’ Dual Language students will develop proficiency in English and Spanish by participating in a rigorous academic program that promotes bilingualism, biliteracy, and multiculturalism. Students will be successful graduates ready for college, career, and life in a growing global economy.
 

Goals
The goals of the program are focused on:

1. Bilingualism – Students will speak and understand in Spanish and English with fluency.
2. Biliteracy – Students will read and write in Spanish and English at or above grade level in all academic areas. 
3. Multiculturalism – Students will understand and appreciate different cultures at a deeper level and develop relationships with students from other cultures.

Program Model
Washington Township Schools has a two-way dual language immersion program, with the target languages of Spanish and English. In a two-way program, a balanced number of students are from English speaking homes and Spanish or bilingual speaking homes. Primary benefits of a two-way program include: 

1. inclusion of model speakers in both languages; and 
2. inclusion of students from two or more cultural backgrounds, which increases cross-cultural understanding.

Benefits of Dual Language Immersion

1. Young children learn a second language more naturally at a young age.
2. Biliterate skills give students the options for careers requiring multilingual skills in the 21st century global society.
3. The study of a second language helps develop strong thinking and reasoning skills useful for problem-solving.