When the 2024-25 school year begins next month, a few Spring ISD sixth-graders will be walking into their first day of middle school with something special — high school course credits.

That’s because those 31 students were a part of a unique program in the district, the 80/20 Two- Way Dual Language (TWDL) program. 

“When the parents signed up [for the program], we made the promise to them and their children that we would be creating bilingual students,” Lettie Houck, Multilingual Programs Director, said. “One of the perks for being in the two-way program was the approved language test so that these kids could try and attain Spanish I high school credit by the time they had finished elementary school.”

28 of the students attended Northgate Crossing Elementary, while three attended the School for International Studies at Bammel.

The parents of those 31 students signed up in the fall of 2018, when their students were entering kindergarten. The program promised to place their students in a bilingual classroom – half native English speakers and half native Spanish speakers.

The classroom would take a unique approach to creating bilingual students, with 80 percent of instruction in Spanish and 20 percent in English in their kindergarten year. As the students progressed, that divide balanced out gradually each year, with 70 percent Spanish and 30 percent English in the first grade and so on, until the 50/50 balance of instruction was reached, with equal parts English and Spanish instruction.

“The two-way program is a gift for the children, and it brings equity for our district,” Houck said. “If you see the research, developing language skills like this in young children really pays off.”

One way the program pays off is for students to continue to learn a second language throughout high school, eventually earning them a special designation.

“Now our intention is to continue to offer them Spanish classes in middle and high school, with eventually getting them to Spanish III and Spanish IV AP, so they can qualify for the Seal of Biliteracy,” Houck said. 

The Seal of Biliteracy is an award granted to students who are fully proficient in two or more languages by high school graduation, and is often seen as evidence of skills that are attractive to future employers and college admissions offices. This year, 107 members of the Spring ISD Class of 2024 received the Seal of Biliteracy. 

The goal of the two-way program is to continue to grow those numbers. In fact, the program is expanding next year to Beneke Elementary, with a new class of kindergarten students set to begin in August.

For more information on all of the Spring ISD Multilingual Programs, please click here.