Dual Language Program
Click below to join the Dual Language Program!
Please join us for the Dual Language Program meeting at Oakbrook Elementary School.
May 20, 2025 from 5:15 pm to 6:00 pm
If you are interested in enrolling your child, your attendance is required.
Forms will be available on May 20, 2025 after the Dual Language Program meeting.
Parent Presentations
The Wood Dale School District 7 Dual Language Program is an educational approach that provides English Learners (ELs) and Spanish Learners (SLs) academic instruction in both English and Spanish to achieve fluency and literacy in both languages. This program promotes bilingualism and biliteracy for all students who qualify as ELs and for students who come from homes where Spanish is not spoken.
The program provides an opportunity for students who are not ELs to become fluent and literate in Spanish. This program is an elective for students who are not ELs. The Dual Program provides the language support that ELs need for students who qualify as ELs.
Our dual language classroom features approximately a 50/50 blend of native English and Spanish-speaking students. This setup creates a collaborative and immersive environment where students learn both languages naturally while developing a deep appreciation for diverse cultures. The commitment is for students to stay in the program through 5th grade. The goals of this program are to develop bilingualism/ biliteracy, academic achievement, and cross-cultural competencies for all students.
The Dual Language program goals are for students to:
- Become bilingual, biliterate, and multicultural
- Perform academically at grade level in Spanish and English
- Use two languages comfortably and effectively in social and academic settings appropriate for their age level
- Demonstrate an appreciation of cultural diversity and cross-cultural competence across various social situations.
- Close the achievement gap of English Language Learners
- Provide the opportunity for students whose first language is not Spanish to become bilingual
- Engage in a rigorous curriculum aligned to state standards
- Cultivate a lifelong love for language learning and an appreciation for cultural diversity
The Dual Language Program at Wood Dale School District 7 is an 80/20 program.
In Kindergarten, the students receive 80% of their instruction in Spanish and 20% in English. Each year the percentages change (less Spanish and more English), until the students receive 50% of instruction in Spanish and 50% in English. This will occur in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. At the Junior High, Dual Language students receive 2 core classes in Spanish; these include Spanish Language Arts and Social Studies. The other subject areas, including English Language Arts, are taught in English. Teachers follow a Language Allocation Plan which determines which subjects they will be teaching in Spanish or in English each year.
We offer a bilingual class at ECEC, where students spend 90% of their day learning in Spanish and 10% of the day learning in English.
Each year, the district will hold a Dual information parent night, where parents will have the opportunity to learn about the program, ask questions, and complete the Dual Language Consent Form.