Dual Language Programs Expand In State

By Staff Reports

The Indiana Department of Education announced a record number of schools statewide will receive grants to establish or expand dual language programs as part of Indiana’s Dual Language Immersion Pilot Program.

The program, first launched in 2015, works to support schools as they help students develop language and cultural competency skills. It provides grants to school corporations or charter schools to establish or expand dual language programs in French, Mandarin, Spanish or other languages approved by the department.

The Dual Language Immersion Pilot Program has contributed to an expansion in Indiana’s dual language programs from four schools in 2014 to 42 schools across the state for the upcoming school year, a news release said.

For the 2022-2023 school year, 30 schools in 21 school corporations were awarded a combined $595,000, with state grant dollars supplemented by federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. This includes 28 schools that are expanding their existing programs and two new programs:

New Programs:

• School City of East Chicago – Benjamin Harrison Elementary
• Washington Community Schools – Washington Primary School

Expanding Programs:

• Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation – Clifty Creek Elementary School
• Eastbrook Community Schools – Eastbrook South Elementary
• Franklin Township Community School Corporation – Thompson Crossing Elementary
• Indianapolis Public Schools – Theodore Potter Elementary
• Lawrenceburg Community School Corporation – Lawrenceburg Primary School and Central Elementary School
• Logansport Community School Corporation – Columbia Sixth Grade Academy
• Manchester Community Schools – Manchester Elementary School
• Monroe County Community School Corporation – Clear Creek Elementary School Summit Elementary School, and Batchelor Middle School
• MSD Lawrence Township – Harrison Hill Elementary School, Indian Creek Elementary School, Mary Castle Elementary School, Skiles Test Elementary School and Sunnyside Elementary School
• MSD of Martinsville – Poston Road Elementary
• MSD Warren Township – Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School
• MSD Washington Township – Willow Lake Elementary
• Muncie Community Schools – West View Elementary School
• School City of Hammond – Washington Irving Elementary
• South Bend Community School Corporation – Harrison Elementary and McKinley Elementary School
• Southwest Dubois County School Corporation – Huntingburg Elementary School
• Valparaiso Community Schools – Parkview Elementary
• Wabash City Schools – Wabash Middle School
• Warsaw Community Schools – Leesburg Elementary School and Eisenhower Elementary School

To qualify for this grant, a school’s dual language immersion program must begin in either kindergarten or first grade and use an instructional model that provides at least 50% of its instruction in a target language and the remaining percentage of instructional time in English.