A dual immersion program at Gabilan Hills School and an accelerated achievement program at Calaveras School are providing parents with the opportunity to expand their children’s education beyond the normal classroom experience.
PHOTO RIGHT: Teacher, Deanna Lane, guides her Dual Language Academy kindergarten students through a sentence building exercise. Deanna is the English half of a mother-daughter bilingual kinder team at HDLA.
“Even now that the school year has started people will be driving by and see the banner and want (to enroll their children),” said Delia Gomez, Vice-Principal of the dual immersion program. “They weren’t aware of it before, even though the district has been promoting the program for the last two years.”
HSD trustees approved implementation of the two programs, called magnet schools, in August, 2006. Although the idea behind magnet schools is not a new one – more than 1,000 such schools have been built in the United States since the 1970s, according to Superintendent Ron Crates, Hollister’s two programs are a first for San Benito County. Magnet schools are still considered a public entity, but the educational program focuses on one particular subject area and is designed to attract students whose strengths lie in that specific area.
PHOTO LEFT: Following their class work, students quietly and intently share the adventures of their past weekend.
Gabilan Hills’ dual immersion campus is designed to allow students to not only meet and exceed state standards in all subject matter areas, but ensure they are proficient in both the English and Spanish languages by the time they finish the program. Students would ideally begin the program in kindergarten and stay with it through eighth grade. There are currently 80 students enrolled in the program – two kindergarten classes and two first-grade classes with 20 students in each class. Eventually, the program will include classes through the eighth grade.
Classes are designed to allow students to spend half of their time learning in English and the other half learning in Spanish. A third of the students enrolled in the program are English speaking, one-third are Spanish speaking and one-third are bilingual, according to Gomez.
PHOTOS RIGHT: Calavaras School is home to the Accelerated Achievement Academy.
“Our goal for the students by the time they are in the eighth grade is that they should be able to go to any school and be able to flourish in either environment, “ Gomez said. “By the time they leave this program, they should be bilingual, bi-literate and multicultural.”
Although the dual immersion academy is located on the same property as Gabilan Hills, it is considered its own school. It has its own campus with permanent buildings and its operating budget is separate from Gabilan Hills.
The second magnet school program, an accelerated achievement program, is located at Calaveras School, and is intended for students who are quick learners and work well on their own.
PHOTO LEFT: Teacher, SueGlass, guides the students through a lesson.
The program is designed for students with higher academic potential and self-discipline, according to Crates. Curriculum is taught at a faster pace than in the normal classroom, leaving time for advanced work and more in-depth research projects. Crates said the hope was that parents with children participating in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program would consider enrolling their child in the accelerated achievement program; however, GATE continues in its current form and students presently enrolled in GATE were not automatically shifted to the accelerated achievement program.
PHOTO RIGHT: Antwaun Nino, AAP student, shows off the intricacies of his Kachina doll.
“Some parents may prefer their children attend a neighborhood school,” Crates said. “Enrollment in the magnet schools program is optional.”
There are currently 68 students enrolled in the accelerated achievement program, which is made up of three classes – one third grade, one fourth grade and one fifth grade, according to Laurie Forrest, the program’s vice-principal. The accelerated achievement program uses the Renzulli learning system, which identifies student interests through surveys and teaches based on those interests, according to Forrest
PHOTO BELOW: AAP Vice Principal, Laurie Forrest, likes what she sees in the classroom..
There are other differences between the magnet schools and the district’s traditional schools. Both magnet schools have staff members with experience in the specific fields they are teaching; for example, all teachers at the dual immersion academy have a bilingual education background. Additionally, the magnet school programs are designed for grades K-8, while HSD now has only K-5 schools, with two middle schools for students in grades 6-8. As with the dual immersion program at Gabilan Hills, Calaveras’ magnet school draws funds from its own budget, but its program is integrated with the rest of the Calaveras campus.
Any student enrolled in the Hollister School District can attend either of the magnet school campuses, even if it is not located near the campus their would normally attend, Crates said.
