Lana Morris loves the playground and she has plenty of energy. All this energy will come in handy next year when Lana starts kindergarten.

  • Dual-language immersion program is first of its kind in Newhall School District
  • Students will be taught in English and Spanish
  • Over 115 students have applied for the program

Her mom, Dejah Morris, is hoping Lana will be one of about a hundred students admitted to a new dual-language immersion program within the Newhall School District.

“Living in Southern California, I would love for her to be able to speak Spanish, because that’s a huge part of our population and I feel like it’s only going to be a benefit to her future," says Morris.

The district is launching the program for the first time. If she’s admitted, Lana will learn 50 percent of the time in English and 50 percent if the time In Spanish.

“I think that’s going to help her broaden her cultural views too,” said her mom. 

The Newhall School District decided to launch the program after parents overwhelmingly requested a dual-language immersion program where kids can learn in both Spanish and English.

“And also, actually we’ve had a number of teachers we’ve hired who asked, 'Do you have a dual language program?' No but we’re considering it, so now is the right time to launch this program for our kids," said School Superintendent Jeff Pelzel.

The district is starting with two kindergarten and two first-grade classes at Old Orchard School, where Superintendent Pelzel was on-hand to talk about the program.

"By the time they graduate and finish us here in sixth grade, they will be completely bilingual and bi-literate. They’ll be able to read, write and speak in English and Spanish,” said Superintendent Pelzel.

For now, Lana will have to wait until March 14th to see if she’s accepted into the program, 115-students have already applied and parents still have until February 8th to submit an application. If she is accepted she’ll be jumping into a dual immersion program in the fall of this year.