Title I/PCEN Reading, Math and ESL; Full Spanish Bilingual program; Project Read; Pre-K Superstart; Reading Recovery; CORE Knowledge; Reading Reform; Extended Day Reading/Math; Project Arts; Instrumental & Keyboard Music and Fine Arts. Our math tutorial program with Benjamin Banneker HS has been tremendously successful.
The Dual Language Program
General Information About Our School:
Edward C Blum Elementary School (PS 46K) is a small school with 374 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 5. Our current student body consists of 20 % English language learners. We offer special education and bilingual education programs. Children participate in out of classroom art, music, technology, and physical education classes. We are recent recipients of a Robin Hood Library Grant with brand new state of the artlibrary.
Teachers frequently use technology in the classroom with class sets of laptops and a Smart Board shared on each grade. In addition, we have just received a $ 50,000 technology grant.
Our new dual language program will offer children to become proficient in both Spanish and English, further preparing them to become members of a global community!
What is a Dual Language Program?
Dual Language programs put native English speakers and speakers of another language (like Spanish or Chinese) together in one classroom with the goal that all the students develop proficiency, if not fluency, in both languages. These programs shouldn't be confused with bilingual or English as a Second Language Classes,which are designed to teach English to non-English speakers.
Ideally, half of the students enrolled in a dual language class should be native English speakers and the other half should be native, or at least fluent speakers in the other language being taught. It's important for the success of the dual language program that it strive to maintain, or come close to, a 50-50 split between English and the foreign language speakers. Classroom instruction can alternate between the two languages by day, half day, such as students learning in English during the morning and the other language during the afternoon classes, or alternating every otherweek.
We’re Launching our Dual Language Program in the 2009/2010 School Year!
The dual language program at PS 46 will begin in September 2009. Our program will offer Spanish andEnglish instruction. In the 09/10school year we will begin with Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten dual languageclasses. Each subsequent year we will add a grade level until each grade in pre-kindergarten through grade five has a dual language class. This program will replace our current transitional bilingual program. If your child is a native English speaker they will have the option of applying for admission to theprogram. If you are the parent of a native Spanish speaker who is entitled to receive ESL and wish to have your child participate, they will be admitted automatically into the program.