San Bernardino City USD Receives Grant to Expand Dual Language Program

San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) is expanding its popular Dual Language Immersion Program thanks to a $380,000 grant from the State of California.

“The California Department of Education Dual Language Immersion Grant (DLIG) is a significant boost to SBCUSD’s efforts to grow the program, which serves about 3,164 SBCUSD students in Dual Language Programs, and 824 in Transitional Bilingual Programs, from kindergarten through 12th grade,” said Les Ojeda, the District’s Elementary Director of Multilingual Programs, the department overseeing implementation of the grant.

The District’s Dual Language Immersion Program is offered at 25 schools and promotes bilingualism and biliteracy in English and Spanish for native Spanish speakers and native English speakers. Students receive academic instruction in English and Spanish based on the 90:10 model, meaning that 90 percent of the instruction is in one language and 10 percent in the other language with the percentage shifting each year until instruction is 50:50.