Olivia Minjares occasionally works the front of house at El Bukanas, a taquería at the corner of S. Azusa and E. Gladstone in Azusa, California. But she says that she’s mostly here to get out of the house and connect with people—staff and customers—after over forty years in public education. During a visit to the taquería, orders came in both Spanish and English, as well as in a mix of the two: “Ok, I’ll add cilantro,” she said. “¿Con cebolla? Ok, ok, sí, pero you know the chicken’s breaded on that one, right?”
After fielding that order, Minjares reminisced about her final posting in Los Angeles Unified School District, about fifty miles west of Azusa. “I launched a dual-language program at my last school and people loved it,” she said. “They’re great—if you can find the staff.”
Around the corner at Azusa Unified School District’s Valleydale Elementary, they’re testing exactly that hypothesis.
Valleydale Principal Horacio Trejo says that, as Minjares discovered, the community is growing more enthusiastic about his campus’s Spanish–English dual-language immersion program. “We had a waitlist for the first time last year,” he said.
In a moment of declining enrollment across California—and the country—that’s an achievement. “Obviously all schools in California [are] experiencing declining enrollment,” says Azusa Assistant Superintendent Norma Camacho. “It’s really become competitive.”
East of Los Angeles, Bilingualism Has Proven to Be a Hit
Decreasing enrollment is a problem for many U.S. schools now, as flagging birth rates, conservative investments in school voucher programs, and reduced immigration are leaving public classrooms short on students. These pressures will mostly remain in place for the foreseeable future, seeing how current federal leaders are not seriously considering policies to make it easier for families to have children, and are actively undermining the country’s ability to attract and retain immigrants. As such, state and local public education officials are on their own, and must find a way to shore up their budgets by engaging the families in their communities and convincing as many as possible to enroll in their public schools.
State and local public education officials are on their own, and must find a way to shore up their budgets by engaging the families in their communities and convincing as many as possible to enroll in their public schools.
Valleydale’s example may be instructive, given that it faced enrollment challenges earlier than other California communities. A local plant nursery began winding down its local operations roughly twenty years ago, leaving the local economy short of jobs. Some families and their children left the area, and those who stayed were stuck with greater economic precarity: 91 percent of Valleydale students’ families were classified as low-income during the 2019–2020 school year. That same year, the district had to close several campuses and consolidated two schools at Valleydale.
More recently, however, a new housing development and the arrival of a public light-rail line made it easier for families who work in Los Angeles to consider living in Azusa. While this has given the community a demographic—and economic—boost, these new families have not always been willing to give Azusa Unified’s schools a chance.
In that context, the district has begun thinking of its dual-language programs as part of an enrollment strategy. Azusa has run Spanish–English dual language programs since 2015, and launched a Mandarin–English DLI program last year to appeal to the increasing number of Asian families moving into the area’s new housing developments.
In Mrs. Manzanares’ first grade Valleydale classroom, desks are grouped into clusters named for concepts in their social studies unit: “democrático,” “valiente,” “libre,” “patriótico” (“democratic,” “brave,” “free,” “patriotic”). The class gathered around two pairs of students sitting at the valiente table to collectively talk through how those students solved a math problem. The conversations swung freely from English and Spanish—an example of what linguists call translanguaging. “Tienes ocho y quitas cinco y restas trés,” said Iván, one of the students. “I wrote it like this,” he said, pointing to his paper, where he’d written, “8-5=3.”
Benefits for All, but Especially for ELs
While multilingual learning can be an exciting opportunity for all children, research has consistently shown that these programs are uniquely beneficial for supporting the emerging bilingualism of English learners (ELs). “We’ve really tried to stay true to who the program is intended for,” says Camacho. “Other students can benefit from it, but it is intended for our EL students and the achievement of those students.” To that end, it’s not a coincidence that roughly one-third of Valleydale students are formally classified as ELs, over 90 percent of students identify as Latinos, and the vast majority of them speak Spanish as their primary language. Excitingly, though overall district enrollment has continued to shrink since 2019–20, Valleydale’s has grown by more than 20 percent.
Gianna, a second-grader, has internalized Camacho’s message. “I like studying both Spanish and English so I can stay bilingual,” she says. “My father is from Mexico and I want to be able to speak to his family there when I see them.”
When educators cultivate those assets, both ELs and their English-dominant peers do better.
While public discourse sometimes links language diversity in the United States with immigration, the relationship is more complex than most realize. The overwhelming majority of ELs are native-born U.S. citizens. Some, like Gianna, are children or grandchildren of immigrants, and some are not. But changes to U.S. immigration policies and enforcement will not change the fact that millions of American children have valuable multilingual, multicultural skills that they contribute to their schools and communities. When educators cultivate those assets, both ELs and their English-dominant peers do better. And as Valleydale suggests, when their campuses deepen their commitment to these children’s emerging bilingualism (or multilingualism), it can tempt more families to give their schools a chance.
Tags: English as a second language, dual language education, English Language Learners, multilingualism
Dual-Language Immersion Could Be the Key to Boosting Student Enrollment in California
Olivia Minjares occasionally works the front of house at El Bukanas, a taquería at the corner of S. Azusa and E. Gladstone in Azusa, California. But she says that she’s mostly here to get out of the house and connect with people—staff and customers—after over forty years in public education. During a visit to the taquería, orders came in both Spanish and English, as well as in a mix of the two: “Ok, I’ll add cilantro,” she said. “¿Con cebolla? Ok, ok, sí, pero you know the chicken’s breaded on that one, right?”
After fielding that order, Minjares reminisced about her final posting in Los Angeles Unified School District, about fifty miles west of Azusa. “I launched a dual-language program at my last school and people loved it,” she said. “They’re great—if you can find the staff.”
Around the corner at Azusa Unified School District’s Valleydale Elementary, they’re testing exactly that hypothesis.
Valleydale Principal Horacio Trejo says that, as Minjares discovered, the community is growing more enthusiastic about his campus’s Spanish–English dual-language immersion program. “We had a waitlist for the first time last year,” he said.
In a moment of declining enrollment across California—and the country—that’s an achievement. “Obviously all schools in California [are] experiencing declining enrollment,” says Azusa Assistant Superintendent Norma Camacho. “It’s really become competitive.”
East of Los Angeles, Bilingualism Has Proven to Be a Hit
Decreasing enrollment is a problem for many U.S. schools now, as flagging birth rates, conservative investments in school voucher programs, and reduced immigration are leaving public classrooms short on students. These pressures will mostly remain in place for the foreseeable future, seeing how current federal leaders are not seriously considering policies to make it easier for families to have children, and are actively undermining the country’s ability to attract and retain immigrants. As such, state and local public education officials are on their own, and must find a way to shore up their budgets by engaging the families in their communities and convincing as many as possible to enroll in their public schools.
Valleydale’s example may be instructive, given that it faced enrollment challenges earlier than other California communities. A local plant nursery began winding down its local operations roughly twenty years ago, leaving the local economy short of jobs. Some families and their children left the area, and those who stayed were stuck with greater economic precarity: 91 percent of Valleydale students’ families were classified as low-income during the 2019–2020 school year. That same year, the district had to close several campuses and consolidated two schools at Valleydale.
More recently, however, a new housing development and the arrival of a public light-rail line made it easier for families who work in Los Angeles to consider living in Azusa. While this has given the community a demographic—and economic—boost, these new families have not always been willing to give Azusa Unified’s schools a chance.
In that context, the district has begun thinking of its dual-language programs as part of an enrollment strategy. Azusa has run Spanish–English dual language programs since 2015, and launched a Mandarin–English DLI program last year to appeal to the increasing number of Asian families moving into the area’s new housing developments.
In Mrs. Manzanares’ first grade Valleydale classroom, desks are grouped into clusters named for concepts in their social studies unit: “democrático,” “valiente,” “libre,” “patriótico” (“democratic,” “brave,” “free,” “patriotic”). The class gathered around two pairs of students sitting at the valiente table to collectively talk through how those students solved a math problem. The conversations swung freely from English and Spanish—an example of what linguists call translanguaging. “Tienes ocho y quitas cinco y restas trés,” said Iván, one of the students. “I wrote it like this,” he said, pointing to his paper, where he’d written, “8-5=3.”
Benefits for All, but Especially for ELs
While multilingual learning can be an exciting opportunity for all children, research has consistently shown that these programs are uniquely beneficial for supporting the emerging bilingualism of English learners (ELs). “We’ve really tried to stay true to who the program is intended for,” says Camacho. “Other students can benefit from it, but it is intended for our EL students and the achievement of those students.” To that end, it’s not a coincidence that roughly one-third of Valleydale students are formally classified as ELs, over 90 percent of students identify as Latinos, and the vast majority of them speak Spanish as their primary language. Excitingly, though overall district enrollment has continued to shrink since 2019–20, Valleydale’s has grown by more than 20 percent.
Gianna, a second-grader, has internalized Camacho’s message. “I like studying both Spanish and English so I can stay bilingual,” she says. “My father is from Mexico and I want to be able to speak to his family there when I see them.”
While public discourse sometimes links language diversity in the United States with immigration, the relationship is more complex than most realize. The overwhelming majority of ELs are native-born U.S. citizens. Some, like Gianna, are children or grandchildren of immigrants, and some are not. But changes to U.S. immigration policies and enforcement will not change the fact that millions of American children have valuable multilingual, multicultural skills that they contribute to their schools and communities. When educators cultivate those assets, both ELs and their English-dominant peers do better. And as Valleydale suggests, when their campuses deepen their commitment to these children’s emerging bilingualism (or multilingualism), it can tempt more families to give their schools a chance.
Tags: English as a second language, dual language education, English Language Learners, multilingualism