More high school students learning in other languages - Education - MiamiHerald.com

More high school students learning in other languages

Math in French, literature in Spanish. It's all part of a growing trend of bilingual studies that have expanded on the high school level.

International Studies in Miami-Dade: Grades 1-12

French: 600 students*

German: 220-230 students*

Italian: 205 students*

Spanish: 1,900 students*

*Estimates from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools

High schools

International Studies Preparatory Academy @ Gables: http://choice.dadeschools.net/ispa

International Studies Charter High School: http://ischs.dadeschools.net/Home.html

Magnet Schools

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Magnet Schools: www.miamimagnets.org

BY TANIA VALDEMORO

TVALDEMORO@MIAMIHERALD.COM

They study El Mio Cid, Spain's oldest epic poem, in Spanish. They analyze mystery literature written by Frenchman Georges Simenon in Italian. They learn Algebra II, geometry and statistics in French.

They are International Studies high school students -- following a demanding bilingual program that gives them the same education as their peers in Spain, France, Germany and Italy.

And they are growing in number.

As of last week, there is a new public high school -- the International Studies Preparatory Academy @ Gables, or ISPA -- the first magnet school in Miami-Dade to offer only International Studies in a high school setting.

A venture between Miami-Dade Schools and the consulates of Spain, France and Italy, the high school completes the International Studies trajectory for the nearly 3,000 students on that course.

They will be able to go from first to 12th grade and take courses in history, foreign languages and some math and science classes -- in Spanish, French, Italian or German.

``I think the program is pretty great,'' said Robert Zoeller, 10, a fifth-grader at Ada Merritt K-8 Center, who has been taking the Spanish curriculum for the past four years. ``We get to learn social studies in Spanish. Not a lot of kids get to experience this much.''

Some say taking classes in a bilingual setting gives students an academic lift.

``A lot of research indicates that knowing more than one language early on promotes the development of thinking skills,'' said Joanne Urrutia, administrative director of Miami-Dade County Public School's Division of Bilingual Education and World Languages.

GROWING PROGRAM

The International Studies program has grown since it started in 1986 at Sunset Elementary. Today, more than 2,900 Miami-Dade students are enrolled from grades 1-12, or about 1 in 12 students.

Students take the same core subjects as Europeans -- grammar, literature, history, humanities and civics -- in one of the languages they're mastering. They learn math, science and English -- in English, except for the students being taught in French, who are required to take math and science courses in French.

ISPA is the next step in the International Studies program, which starts in first grade at five schools: Sunset Elementary School (Spanish, French, German); George W. Carver Elementary School (Italian); North Dade Center for Modern Languages (Spanish, French); Coral Way K-8 Center (Spanish) and Ada Merritt K-8 Center (Spanish).

From there, students attend one of four middle schools -- George W. Carver Middle School (Spanish, French, German and Italian); Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School (Spanish); Coral Way K-8 Center and Ada Merritt K-8 Center (Spanish).

Coral Reef Senior High has been offering the German curriculum since the 1990s. The International Studies Charter High School in Little Havana, founded in 2004, teaches Spanish, French and Italian.

The International Studies Preparatory Academy @ Gables, which opened last Monday in the Koubek Center off Coral Way, has 12 freshmen taking courses in French and Spanish. Next year, the school will begin Italian.

Alejandro Perez, the principal, said he has spots for 75 to 100 students this fall and will accept magnet applications for the next six weeks.

``The benefits of becoming truly bilingual and bicultural will help later in life,'' Perez said. ``Businesses are looking at students who can read and write in a second language.''

AN AGREEMENT

Typically, these type of programs are found at international or private schools -- not public schools.

That changed in 1986, when the French, Spanish and German consulates signed an agreement with Miami-Dade Schools to provide their national syllabuses at local schools. Sunset Elementary was the pioneer in 1986, followed by Carver Middle, the North Dade Center for Modern Languages and Coral Gables Senior High School in 1987, said Gonzalo Gonzalez de Lara, education attaché for the Embassy of Spain in the United States.

``We did this to respond to the wishes of the French parents, as well as of the whole community, to have a programme of excellence in Miami,'' Gael de Maisonneuve, consul general of France in Miami, said by e-mail.

But things fell apart on the high school level.

The Gables program transferred to Coral Reef in the 1990s. By 2003, France and Spain ended the program at Coral Reef, citing the school's distance from other IS schools, among other factors. The German program continued.

The consulates of France, Spain and Italy then supported the International Studies Charter High School in Little Havana. The consulates generally pay for visiting teachers and share other costs with the school district.

The three consulates support the new high school. German consular officials, however, were concerned the district had not invited them to join ISPA; they said they hoped the German curriculum could be offered there some day, in addition to Coral Reef.

ISPA is recruiting students. Enrollment is low because the school district launched the school a month before classes started, said Anna Piva, executive director of ODLI, which coordinates International Studies in Italian.

``Many families had already decided where to send their children for the coming year,'' she said.

When the school moves next year to 1570 Madruga Ave. in Coral Gables, the building will accommodate 600 students.

ANTICIPATION

Valeria Sonderreger, 12, of Miami Beach, can't wait to attend.

After seven years in the Spanish program at Ada Merritt, and a visit to Spain last summer with her classmates, Valeria said she loves learning about a different culture. In eighth grade, she will take the AP Spanish language exam for college credit -- a test that most students take in high school.

Parents are relieved, too.

``It gives me a lot more public choices than what I have now,'' said Andrea Leal, an Argentine, whose son studies the Spanish curriculum at Carver Middle School.

`LOT MORE WORK'

To be sure, the International Studies program is not for everyone.

``It's a lot more work,'' said Pavel Raphael, 17, a senior at the International Studies Charter High School.

``The curriculum is harder. There are no multiple choice tests, just long response questions.''

INCENTIVES

Since the fourth grade, Pavel has followed the French curriculum at Sunset Elementary and Carver Middle School. He enrolled at the International Charter Studies High School in 2007 because it was the only school offering the same curriculum.

But the rewards -- academic prestige, college credit, a possible free European education and better jobs -- are powerful incentives.

If students complete the International Studies program in the 12th grade and they pass national language tests, they are eligible for a dual high school diploma, depending on the country.

Those who pass entrance exams for college -- such as the French Baccalauréat or the Spanish Selectividad -- can attend a university in that country.

That's a goal for Guillaume Fernandes, 17, of Coral Gables, who says college in the United States is expensive. He studied in France before coming to Miami in 2007.

Attending a university in France is free. In Spain and Germany, college tuition is much less expensive than in American universities, consular officials say.

Pavel, the French student, said his competitive edge will come when he enters the workforce.

``I plan to go into business,'' he said. ``Languages open up more possibilities. It's easier to get hired.''

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