Spanish Immersion Program
Highland Park Junior High takes pride in its Spanish Immersion Program, the continuation of the program at Adams Spanish Immersion Elementary School. The continuation rate of students moving from the elementary school to the junior high program is one of the highest in the nation. Students develop high levels of fluency and literacy in Spanish while meeting all of the standards of the regular SPPS curriculum. At Highland Junior, students can take up to four curricular areas in Spanish—math, science, social studies, and (Spanish) language arts. All students take English language arts, of course, as well, along with a variety of electives. Although the majority of students are graduates of Adams Spanish Immersion, other students join the program, coming from other bilingual or immersion programs or arriving from Spanish-speaking countries and families.
In addition to a three-day, two-night trip to an environmental education center every other year, Spanish Immersion students participate in and have been very successful in History Day and Geography Bee competitions, poetry slams, Model United Nations events, and service learning projects. Our Spanish Immersion students become involved in many school-wide activities at Highland Junior and are a part of the larger community in this way.
Courses Offered
Spanish Immersion Language Arts
The Spanish Immersion Language Arts (in Spanish) class is a two year curriculum. One year it is more closely linked with SI Geography and it is called SI Global Issues. The other year it is connected with SI US History and it is called SI Ideas in History. In this class we explore creative ways to use the Spanish language to communicate our ideas and express ourselves more fully. We work to decrease grammatical errors and expand our vocabulary in the target language. Students read and write short stories, listen to music, they read and write poetry, study current events, do service-learning projects, make presentations, prepare (and eat!) typical meals and more.
Other content area courses are also offered. The content of these courses is the same for all students, it is just presented in Spanish.
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