Dual Language Bilingual Education at Salem Public Schools

How Dual Language Bilingual Education Works

DLBE works by providing a classroom environment where approximately 50% of the students are native Spanish speakers, and 50% of the students are native English speakers. In doing so, all students benefit from hearing each language modeled by peers who speak that language as a native language.

In order to ensure this classroom ratio, SPS holds a lottery every March where families can apply for the 18 available spots in PreK (nine for native Spanish speakers, nine for native English speakers) and for the 50 spots available in Kindergarten (25 for native Spanish speakers, 25 for native English speakers*).  Once the lottery is held, a waitlist will be created for each linguistic group and students will be accepted from the waitlist into the program if space becomes available.

Please note: Research shows that children need a strong foundation in Spanish literacy to be successful in Spanish-English DLBE programs. Therefore, students who do not speak Spanish as a native language cannot enroll in DLBE after grade 1.

*Students moving from PreK to K in the DLBE program are automatically guaranteed seats in the K DLBE classrooms, which may reduce the overall number of seats available in K to 32.

The Benefits of Dual Language Education

Dual Language Education has many benefits.

• Research consistently shows that students in DLBE programs not only learn both languages well, but they often outperform their peers in English-only programs over time — especially in reading and academic achievement in either language.
• DLBE programs are also the best program for our Spanish speaking students who are learning English as a new language. This is because it is an additive program — it enables our students to add English as a new language to their repertoire while maintaining their ability to read, write, and speak in Spanish.
• Finally, bilingual children also tend to develop stronger cognitive skills like problem-solving, multitasking, and memory — all of which support overall academic success.

How to Enter Dual Language Bilingual Education in PreK and K

Salem Public Schools operates the Dual Language lottery on the same schedule as the Early Childhood Education lotteries. Since the lottery date and time is subject to change, Parents and Guardians are encouraged to attend the SPS Early Childhood Expo, which is typically held in January or February, to learn more about the lottery dates and times. Parents and Guardians can also contact the Family Welcome Center at 978-740-1225 or welcomenter@salemk12.org to learn more about the Early Childhood Expo and lottery dates. Families can also access information on how to enroll on the Family Welcome Center Website.

How to Enter Dual Language Bilingual Education after Grade 5

All students from the Bentley Academy Innovation School will automatically be granted a seat in the Middle School DLBE program (no registration needed). Students that come from another Dual Language program will need to register at the Family Welcome Center, located at 29 Highland Ave or online. New students entering the Collins Middle School who are federally designated English Learners who are native Spanish speakers that would like to join the Dual Language program are also required to submit a registration with the Family Welcome Center.

If the student is already a current SPS student who is an English Learner and is interested in joining the program, they should contact the Director of Multilingual Learner Education Andre Fonseca at afonseca@salemk12.org or by phone at 978-587-4937.