Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) welcomed Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Superintendent of Schools Carey M. Wright, Ed.D., Feb. 13, for a visit at Arthur Middleton Elementary School. Wright visited to get a closer look into the county’s first dual language, two-way immersion program. The program at the school is the first to be launched in CCPS for students in prekindergarten and kindergarten.
Board of Education of Charles County members, Superintendent of Schools Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D., and CCPS staff also visited the dual immersion program classrooms during a guided tour by Middleton Principal Nicole Hawkins and students at the school.
“I enjoyed seeing the little ones. It puts a smile on my face,” Wright said. “It was interesting to see what they are learning as they are learning both English and Spanish. Starting them off young is powerful because it only grows as they grow.”
The goal of the program is for students to become bilingual and biliterate rather than just fluent in English. The launch of the program is part of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation’s focal area to accelerate the achievement of English learners.
“I’m so excited that the board invited Dr. Wright to visit Middleton,” Navarro said. “She is a lifelong public education advocate; she always remembers that the work starts first in the classrooms, and I hope that she takes these classroom visits with her as she makes decisions for the entire state.”
Following the August 2024 launch of the dual language program, the next grade level will be added each school year. The program will fully be implemented at Middleton at the start of the 2029-2030 school year, when all students who attend Middleton will participate in the program.
“We teach language through the content,” Autumn Hoffman, CCPS specialist in ESOL/World Language, said. “For example, students will learn the language of science and then they learn science itself.” The program is structured for students to realize the importance in learning the language to understand the course content. “It is connected directly to the learning that they have to accomplish to be successful in the class,” she said. “In order to be successful I have to learn this lesson and in order to learn this lesson I need to learn this language.”
Learn more about the CCPS program at https://www.ccboe.com/academics/dual-language-two-way-immersion-program.
About CCPS
Charles County Public Schools provides 28,162 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.
The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Kathy Kiessling, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.
CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).