Hola, Senor Sada

Bilingual country starts with integration at school; Neighbor

Carlos M. Sada says he has no doubt that in the future the United States and Mexico will have two languages.

So Sada, the area’s consul general of Mexico, was pleased to see the process already taking place during a recent visit to Enders- Salk School in Schaumburg.

It was on a tour with Hoffman Estates officials that Sada visited the school, which also serves Hoffman Estates residents. While there, students danced for the dignitary, sang in Spanish and recited the Mexican national anthem to welcome him.

“We are delighted to see how this process of integration is taking place in a school like this,” said Sada, whose office serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Enders-Salk expanded its dual language program just last fall, adding a new program.

The dual-language curriculum aims not just to teach Spanish- speaking children English, but to teach a second language to English-speaking students.

Unlike bilingual classes, dual-language classes are made up of 50 percent English-speaking students and 50 percent Spanish- speaking students.

However, Spanish is used during 80 percent of the teaching time. That percentage gradually decreases as the students move up the grade levels. By the time they reach junior high, they should be fluent in the other language.

Enders-Salk was targeted for the program because more than 200 of its roughly 530 students speak Spanish.



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