Alta View Elementary dual-immersion program gains Spanish Embassy recognition

In welcoming the visiting dignitaries, Canyons Superintendent David Doty said he worked as a Spanish teacher earlier in his career and said he has an appreciation for language education. He said that development in Central and South America makes it all the more important that students gain an ability to communicate in Spanish.

"Having the dual immersion program is really a thrill for us," he said. "I'm just grateful that our kids here in our district have these opportunities."

Shaw said enrolling a student in dual immersion courses is among the best things a parent can do for their child.

"The value of a second language is so beneficial to kids," she said. "We're living in an international world and kids need to be able to relate to other cultures."

Canyons District has a total of eight dual-immersion programs in Spanish, French and Chinese, said Ofelia Wade, the district's dual immersion coordinator. Wade said the ISA designation is a form of validation for the promises of high quality education the district has made to parents.

She said the goal is for all of the district's Spanish programs to eventually apply to the ISA network. All schools implement a similar teaching model and are seeing similar success, but the experience and maturity of Alta View's program made it the most likely school to receive the honor this year.

"Alta View is the program that has been in existence the longest," she said. "That maturity comes from teachers who have been in the program for several years."

Alta View will be officially recognized as an ISA school during a ceremony Wednesday at BYU. The ISA is an cooperative education project between schools in the U.S and Canada and Spain's Ministry of Education and Science.

E-mail: benwood@desnews.com