Julian Luna, Dual Language Immersion teacher, works with a small group of second grade students on solving math word problems in Spanish class. Photo provided.

Press Release

WARSAW — Second through fourth grade students in the Dual Language Immersion program (DLI) at Warsaw Community Schools recently completed the STAMP assessment as a measure of their proficiency in the Spanish language.

This assessment measures the students’ proficiency in all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Since entering kindergarten, these students have been immersed in academic Spanish for one half of the day and academic English for the other half of the day. The goal of the DLI program is to create students who are bilingual, biliterate and bicultural while maintaining high academic standards for success.

Warsaw Community Schools staff report that the STAMP scores showed that many students are on track or ahead of where they should be.

“I am so proud of how our students are doing,” said Nathan Polston, Leesburg Elementary School principal. “We are right on track to meet the end of year proficiency standards. This is our first year taking STAMP and we look forward to more great things in the future. I greatly appreciate all the work our DLI teachers have done to make this program successful at Leesburg.”

Leesburg second grade students are already meeting the proficiency targets established for the end of second grade in the areas of listening and writing.

“Our program at Eisenhower continues to grow and succeed,” said Steven Boyer, Eisenhower Elementary School principal. “We are very excited about the scores our students received on this assessment. As the program grows, we continue to see the students grow in their proficiency thanks to the dedication of their team of teachers.”

Students in second grade at Eisenhower have already exceeded the end of year writing proficiency goal and third-grade students have exceeded the writing, reading and speaking proficiency expectations. The fourth-grade students at Eisenhower continue to excel. They have mastered the goals set for the end of fourth grade in all areas — listening, speaking, reading and writing.

The DLI program plans to expand to fifth grade at Eisenhower and third grade at Leesburg next year. The district is committed to the success of this program and values the opportunities that it provides for students.

“We are very pleased with the results of this program,” said Dr. David Robertson, assistant superintendent of elementary education. “This is a good reflection of the hard work of our teachers and students.”

As the program continues to expand, so do employment opportunities. There is an immediate opening for a paraprofessional at Eisenhower Elementary. Proficient Spanish speakers are also needed as substitute teachers. Contact Crystal Kreider at (574) 269-7440 ext. 3841 for more information.