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NEW CANAAN, Conn. When classes resume in August, every student in the New Canaan Public Schools system will study a language other than English.
For the past four years, the school district has incorporated Spanish lessons into the early grades through its Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools Program. That effort culminates this fall as fifth-graders have Spanish lessons for the entire year. Two years ago, the district introduced Spanish for students in kindergarten through second grade. Last year, students in grades 3 and 4 received Spanish instruction with a trial for fifth-graders. New Canaan students in grades 6 through 8 can choose to study Spanish, Latin or French. New Canaan High School students can choose to study those languages as well as Chinese.
Lizette DAmico, the districts K-8 world language and K-12 English as a second language coordinator, said its important that students learn different languages to keep up with an increasingly smaller world.
Its about preparing them for what is our new world, DAmico said. In the age of the Internet, there are no borders to our world, and were in constant contact with other nations. This will give them that leg up, that opportunity to participate in the international world were living in.
DAmico said some of the teachers were initially hesitant because the foreign language program was new and they were worried about having to co-teach in Spanish. However, they realized the Spanish teachers make the language accessible, and the teachers are now accustomed to having their students meet with the Spanish teacher regularly. Kindergarten students meet with Spanish teachers every day, while other elementary level students learn Spanish four times a week.
Deputy Superintendent Mary Kolek said the program was one of the districts major initiatives. It was strongly endorsed by parents who wanted students to learn foreign languages from a young age. The goal, she said, is for New Canaan children to be proficient in at least two languages by the time they complete high school.
Being multilingual in most of the world is a fact, Kolek said. Its important for our students to have that same set of skills and confidence. Learning a foreign language helps in terms of other academic areas.
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