French Immersion

  • Welcome to the only French Immersion elementary school in Arizona!

    1) FRENCH: The French Immersion program begins in 1st grade and is projected to continue to move up one grade level per year with plans to extend continuation programming at Sonoran Trails Middle School (currently up through 5th grade).

     

    French Immersion making Crepes

    In this enriched educational model called French immersion, 50% of daily instruction is conducted in French and the other 50% through English. Thematic Units spiral throughout the academic content areas so that Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening) are taught in both languages. French Immersion is team taught by two teachers: one French and one English teacher.  The subjects they teach are shown below. The language of instruction is separated by times during the day.

     2 pie charts depicting how instructional minutes are divided up across content areas in the language immersion programs

    Goals of an Immersion Program

    • Academic Achievement in English at grade level or higher
    • High levels of proficiency in English and another language
    • Increased levels of multicultural awareness
    • Healthy self-esteem, determination and grit regarding learning languages

    Why Immersion?

    Young brains are wired to acquire languages through an immersion setting. The French Immersion program takes advantage of this window of opportunity by starting in kindergarten. Students in the DSA French immersion program have one teacher that separates the languages by time of day. They develop two languages and learn to perceive the world around them through two cultural lenses.

    Research shows that immersion students demonstrate more cognitive flexibility, exhibit expanded attention spans and problem solving skills which translate into higher academic achievement over the course of a program. This type of educational option allows students to reach the highest level of proficiency in another language than any other model offered in schools. Students that can enter the world with high levels of proficiency in English and another language will have double the opportunities to succeed!

    What is the official CCUSD language immersion model?

    All CCUSD immersion programs are a one-way, partial immersion model. Click into this You Tube video for an introduction to these programs.