Building better brains with two languages.

2020 - 2021 Kindergarten DLI Application Dates

Application Window begins during Kindergarten Round Up: March 9th

All DLI Applications must be submitted by May 29th*

(*Garden Hills Elementary will have an Early Decision Window from March 9th - 11th. All DLI applications for Garden Hills are due no later than March 11th and parents will be notified of results via email on March 12th.)

The schools listed below provide a Spanish Dual Language Immersion program for students zoned to their schools and for the grade levels listed. Students begin in Kindergarten and continue each year. The application does not guarantee your child a spot. Should applications exceed the number of available slots, the school will determine placement via a lottery process conducted at the local school during the first week of June. Please contact your child's school for more information. School principals will notify parents of lottery results by June 8th.

The Dual Language Immersion Program initially began in APS during the 2013‐2014 school year and has grown each year. DLI elementary schools add a grade level each year until the school DLI program spans all grade levels, Kindergarten through 5th grade. The APS Dual Language Immersion Program is a two teacher, 50/50 model in which students spend half of the day learning in English and the other half of the day in Spanish. As the DLI program expands, it will continue through the 12th grade in the North Atlanta Cluster (Sutton Middle School, North Atlanta High School) and the Jackson Cluster (ML King Middle School, Maynard Jackson High School).

Research has proven that world language study boosts the brain. Results indicate that bilingualism is reliably associated with several cognitive outcomes, including increased attentional control, working memory, meta‐linguistic awareness, and abstract and symbolic representation skills. (Adesope, Lavin, Thompson, Ungerleider, 2010).

Dual Language Immersion programs are the most effective types of learning for nurturing bilingual/biliterate students.  The APS Dual Language Immersion program helps students to develop linguistic competence in both languages at the same time (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Studying in two languages allows students to transfer knowledge and skills acquired in one language to the other.  They are able to feel comfortable and successful in one language while gradually building the second language.

By continuing to learn and develop using two languages, children’s educational and cognitive developments are enhanced.  Learning in two languages provides students with access to two groups of literature, an opening to diverse traditions, ideas, and ways of thinking which can lead to open mindedness, flexibility, and an ability to think in a different way.

o   Ensuring Highly Qualified Certified teachers. Spanish partner teachers are native Spanish speakers with high levels of language. English partner teachers are also highly qualified and certified. In schools with two-way programs the English partner teacher also holds the ESOL Endorsement or ESOL certification.

o   Ensuring that all students receive a curriculum in English and in Spanish that is based upon the Georgia Standards of Excellence, as decided by the State of Georgia.