Dual language teachers Mayte Ambite-Calvo, Desiree DiPerna, Gabby Smolenski and Ana Zuber sit at the front of Ambite-Calvo's classroom at Terwilliger Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Photo by Alissa Gary | The Independent Florida Alligator
Teachers, parents and students weigh in on Terwilliger Elementary’s success
Source: The Independent Florida Alligator
By Alissa Gary
Kennedy Stanley’s first day of kindergarten was not normal.
In many ways, she was similar to her kindergarten peers in other Alachua County Public Schools. Like them, her mom, Kayela Stanley, drove her to school, while she sat in the back seat, nervous for the first day.
The difference is, Kennedy was headed to Spanish class at Terwilliger Elementary School — ACPS’ only dual-language immersion school — having never heard or spoken Spanish at home in her life.
“When I left her, the poor child, her eyes were wide,” Kayela said. “She had no idea what was going on.”
But by the end of the first day, Kennedy came home saying “hola,” and by the end of the first week, she could count in Spanish, Kayela said.
Terwilliger is Alachua County’s first and only public school to offer dual language immersion as a magnet program, with that language being Spanish. The program is in its second year, with its first class of students starting first grade.
Students spend half the day learning in English and another half in Spanish, allowing them to be fully immersed in the languages.
Mayte Ambite-Calvo and Desiree DiPerna hold up examples of their first grade students' work — both in Spanish and in English — on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
Now in first grade, 6-year-old Kennedy can form full sentences — in fact, counting in Spanish is her party trick.
Her teachers, Mayte Ambite-Calvo, who teaches math, science and Spanish, and Desiree DiPerna, who teaches social studies, writing and English, led the program’s pilot class in kindergarten, and then moved up with them to teach first grade.
Now, DiPerna and Ambite-Calvo plan to stay in first grade, Diperna said.
Their classrooms are connected with a shared door, which acts as a portal between the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking worlds. On one side, posters and supplies are written entirely in Spanish, and on the other, in English; but both work together to fully immerse students in the language they’re learning.
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