A pilot program aimed at teaching pupils to be fluent in English and Spanish was approved Monday by Alvin school district trustees.

The bilingual/gifted and talented program, scheduled to begin in the fall at Passmore Elementary School, is based upon one used in El Paso schools.

The Alvin school district expects to have 40 openings for the program – 20 in the first grade and 20 in the second grade. Half will be filled by English speakers and the other half by Spanish speakers.

Likewise, the pupils will be taught in English for half a day and Spanish for the other half. Both populations must meet the criteria of the gifted and talented program.

When the instruction is in Spanish, a pupil fluent in the language can help an English-speaking partner better understand what the teacher is saying.

“So there’s a partner and a sense of cooperation,” said Bel Sanchez, the district’s coordinator of migrant/bilingual services. “That was very interesting to us because at no time does the teacher switch over from one language to the other. They teach the lesson completely in that one language.”

Teachers will be required to be fluent in both English and Spanish, certified in elementary bilingual education and have 30 hours of gifted and talented training.

“We felt like the greatest advantage is the fact that these students will be ready to compete in the global society that will require all of us to be more than monolingual,” Sanchez said.

Pupils from across the district can apply for the program. While it is limited to gifted and talented children, the school board and administration expressed hope that it could at some point be expanded to include others.



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