MURSD Spanish Immersion Update

We've had another great year in the MURSD Spanish Immersion Program. Here you can find updates from the end of the year and things to look forward to:

• School Highlights K-12
• Seal of Biliteracy Recipients
• Hosting and Travel Opportunities
• K-12 Spanish Immersion Programming 2024/2025
• Ideas for Summer Language Reinforcement
  
• Multicultural Night
• SI Advisory Board

Sra. Ibañez' kindergarteners' vocabulary has vastly expanded since September. In one short year of learning Spanish students are able to describe a vocabulary poster in detail, generating their own thoughts and expressing opinions. Sra. Ibañez' hard work and dedication was recognized this year when she was awarded the District's Golden Apple Award, one of two Spanish immersion teachers to receive the award this year. ¡Enhorabuena!

Sra. Martinez' kindergarteners at Clough enjoyed a "Desayuno Andaluz," Andalusian Breakfast, in which families, students and teachers came together to share a communal experience and learn more about Mediterranean culture. Everyone enjoyed a typical breakfast of the south of Spain, "pan con aceite," which is bread with olive oil that can be topped with ham or tomato and sprinkled with salt. It was a spectacular event and all participants enjoyed it immensely!

Sra. Calvo's first graders participated in Project Lead The Way, during which they designed animal ears to explore adaptations animals use to enhance their survival. Students had a lot of fun building their design and then explaining how their ears help animals in nature.

Sra. Moreno's first graders buddied up with some students in Spain for an exchange experience. They took turns introducing themselves through video and wrote each other letters. Here you can see each class with the cards they received from their pen pals overseas!

Srta. Molina's second graders learned about polygons (names, classification, and their parts). The students had different polygons that they had to cut out, copy on the puff pastry dough and once baked, make their angles with white chocolate and their vertices with dark chocolate. Before eating them they had to explain how many sides they had, what type of angles, and the name of the polygon.

Sra. Mumbiela's second graders have been working on a project investigating the question, "How can dogs help people?" They had several interesting visitors; one was a therapy dog and two others were police dogs. The children were enamored and worked very hard. The final project was a Google Slide presentation done with a partner sharing what was learned about how dogs can help people. The second graders went to other classes at Memorial to present their research. It was a very rewarding experience for everyone!

Sr. Dominguez' third graders participated in an intercultural activity where they learned about the different Autonomous Communities (States) of Spain. They practiced how to locate them on the map and also learned about their customs and culture, such as typical regional dances and gastronomy of the area. Students also wrote a letter to some third grade children from a school in Madrid, asking questions about their school and sharing details about their own.

Sr. Garcia and his 4th graders choreographed and performed an original dance to the classic song "La Bamba" at Multicultural night. The students practiced hard and put their heart and soul into the performance which was enjoyed by all!

Sra. Crawford's 5th graders used cards and arrows to create a food web from the time of the dinosaurs. They then used the model they created to show the flow of energy through the food web and tried to figure out why dinosaurs went extinct, but some other animals survived.

At Miscoe, students wrapped up the school year with many fun activities and projects. In this picture you can see 6th graders taking over Sra. Pike's class by preparing and teaching lessons about Ancient Rome for their end of the year social studies project.

Sra. Obrador's 7th graders have been working hard on their Spanish language skills all year. Here they hold their reference books that they created to keep track of the progression of their grammar proficiency.

In the month of May, 8th grade Spanish Immersion students studied the theme of "La mochila" (The backpack). Within this theme the goals were to:

• Understand the ideas presented in various sources about the backpack in terms of style, fit and its personal function.
• Talk with others about the backpack's design, decorations, purpose, and role in individual lives.
• Explore, reflect and present what the backpack represents for a person in its style, design and use.
• Compare backpack design, decoration, and use practices in Spanish-speaking communities like those in your own community.

The final fun project was to design and create a recyclable backpack that represented their own personality and that was made of 80% recyclable materials. The top three backpacks were chosen by Mrs. Higgins, our health teacher here at Miscoe, and the winnings were based on creativity, uniqueness and functionality.

Sra. Soto takes on the role of teacher, mentor and inspiration for all of Nipmuc's Spanish immersion students. Over their four years at Nipmuc, our 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th graders hone their grammar, literacy and conversational skills while engaging in authentic learning experiences, fun projects and activities, Spanish exchange and off-campus celebrations. One of two K-12 SI teachers who were awarded the Golden Apple this year, Sra. Soto is a beloved and integral part of every SI student's educational career.

Our Spanish Immersion program culminates in high school as students finish their studies and are recognized for their life-long achievements with their second language. One way our students' accomplishments are honored is through the Seal of Biliteracy. This is an award to students who demonstrate high level of functional and academic proficiency in English and at least one other world language. Using their AP Scores and/or their AAPPL exam scores, several SI students qualified for recognition on their language achievements.

The following students at Nipmuc have earned the Global Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish, with more specific honors as mentioned below:

Sam Aubut (MA Seal of Biliteracy and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

Matthew dos Santos (MA Seal of Biliteracy and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

Reed Dunster (MA Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Working Fluency)

Kristina Fabische (MA Seal of Biliteracy and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

Kelsey Fournier (MA Seal of Biliteracy and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

James Overholt (MA Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Working Fluency)

Lauren Scott (MA Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Working Fluency)

Lindsey Stephens (Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

Ty Sullivan (MA Seal of Biliteracy and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

Additionally, we had one SI student also receive Seal of Biliteracy honors in German:

Kristina Fabische (MA Seal of Biliteracy and Global Seal of Biliteracy - Functional Fluency)

Congratulations to all of our high-achieving biliterate (and triliterate) students!

Noor, our Spanish language assistant, has been an amazing asset for our K-4 classrooms, and we are already missing her after her return to Spain. We have applied to have two language assistants for next year - one to support SI students and teachers at Memorial, and one to be shared between Clough and Miscoe. If our request is granted, we will need to find two host families to house our incoming language assistants. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Meagan Pike at mpike@mursd.org.

Nipmuc is thrilled to bring back our Spanish Exchange Program for the 2024-2025 school year. This past December we welcomed 27 high school students from the Divina Pastora School from León, Spain to Nipmuc. Our exchange partners stayed with local host families and were fully immersed in the Nipmuc community for over two weeks. They shadowed our students for several days in order to experience our academics, athletics and everyday life as American teenagers. Our friends from Divina Pastora also enjoyed typical New England winter activities; they visited Old Sturbridge Village, Pinz, Fenway Park, Natick Mall, Freedom Trail and The Worcester Local Market. We are looking ahead to next year and would like to speak to both students and parents interested in traveling to Spain (April 8th to April 23 - 2025) or host a student from Spain (September 16th to September 30th 2024) . We will have an informational Zoom meeting on June 18th 2024, @ 6:30 P:M. Exchange Program Informational Zoom Meeting - June 18th 2024 @6:30 . Or contact Sra. Soto at asoto@mursd.org.

Our 7th and 8th grade trip to Spain was a huge success with 57 travelers enjoying all that the south of Spain has to offer. We visited cathedrals, mosques, palaces and other monuments in Córdoba, Granada and Sevilla. We spent a day at the beach in Cádiz and a day a the famous Feria de Abril de Sevilla (April Seville Fair). We learned how to cook paella and dance flamenco, and students had the opportunity to visit a Spanish school and interact with students their own age. You can find many updates about the trip on the Miscoe Travelers Facebook page. We anticipate that there will be a Miscoe trip to Spain every two years. If you will have a 7th or 8th grader who will want to go to Spain in April 2026, information about that next trip will be coming out during this upcoming school year.

Miscoe is once again heading back to Ecuador, but this time to the magical and mysterious Galapagos Islands! For April Vacation 2025, a group of 7th and 8th grade students, parents, and teacher chaperones will fly to Quito, then onward to the Galapagos. While Santa Cruz will be our home base for the majority of the week, we will also spend two nights on Isabella Island. The group will take day trips, often via boats to other islands, spending our days hiking and snorkeling to observe the incredible wildlife around us. Travelers can expect to see flightless cormorants, blue-footed boobies, land and marine iguanas, Galapagos tortoises, sea turtles, sharks, rays, and even penguins! The Galapagos is a true nature-lovers paradise! The group will also have time to interact with locals, participate in a community service project, and practice their Spanish on a daily basis. You can find out more about this trip here. If you have not yet signed up but are interested in joining us on this adventure, please email Miss Holloway at lholloway@mursd.org.

During April vacation 2025 Nipmuc students will have the opportunity to explore the Alps, discover secrets from WWII while visiting Dachau concentration camp, sing along with the VonTrapp family in Salzburg, visit the hometown of Mozart and more while traveling in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Registration deadline for this trip is coming up soon on June 21, but there are still open spots. You can find out more about this trip here or contact Kate Reardon at kreardon@mursd.org.

We are happy to share that next year we will once again have two Spanish Immersion Kindergarten classes, one at Clough and one at Memorial. All of our current Spanish immersion teachers will be staying for the next school year, though some will move around and we will need one more second grade teacher at Memorial, who we have just hired through the visiting teacher program with the Embassy of Spain (name to be announced once all official documents have been signed). Below you will find which teachers will be teaching which grades in which buildings. Additionally, see the graphic here as a reminder for how Spanish and English instruction evolves as SI students progress through the grade levels.

The MURSD Spanish immersion teachers and their locations for the 2024-2025 school year are as follows:

Lola Martinez - Kindergarten at Clough

Macarena Ibañez - Kindergarten at Memorial

Ana Moreno - 1st grade at Clough

Marta Calvo - 1st grade at Memorial

Rosa Mumbiela - 2nd grade at Memorial

New Teacher Coming from Spain - 2nd grade at Memorial

Nazaret Molina - 3rd grade at Clough

Santiago Dominguez - 3rd grade at Memorial

Carlos Garcia - 4th grade at Memorial

Alyssa Crawford - 5th grade at Miscoe

Meagan Pike - 6th grade at Miscoe

Kira Obrador - 7th grade at Miscoe

Miriam Fermin - 8th grade at Miscoe

Ana Soto - 9th through 12th grade at Nipmuc

Are you looking for ways for your child to practice their Spanish skills over the summer? Check out this list of ideas to engage your child with their second language while school is out. Spending fifteen minutes a day exposed to/engaged in the target language can do a lot to maintain your child's Spanish skills over the summer…even five minutes a day if that is all you can get your child to do!

On Thursday, May 9th, we held our district Multicultural Night with approximately 600 people in attendance. The theme of the event was "Let the Games Begin!", a nod to the upcoming Summer Olympics. The evening kicked off with performances in the auditorium featuring all elementary Spanish Immersion classes as well as other high school, middle school and elementary students. In the cafeteria we had tables with over 20 countries and cultures represented with crafts, games, food, informative posters, traditional dress and more. Tables also featured district travel opportunities, musical performances, shared cultural foods and more.

Student visitors received Olympic-themed passports with countries to visit and then got stamps for participating in different activities and visiting the various destinations. They received souvenirs upon completing the passport.

Out on the courtyard visitors enjoyed the beautiful weather with lawn games, leisure time, and cuisine from several food trucks: Atrevete a Probar, 3 Kings BBQ, Mortar and Pestle, Sweet Wise, Bird's Nest Italian Street Food and Simmer and Spice.

The evening was a great success and we are looking forward to next year's event!

The Spanish Immersion Advisory Board is a group made up of parents, educators, students, and administrators of the MURSD created to provide support to the Spanish immersion program in our District.

Our main goal is to focus on the promotion, improvement and growth of the program, using different perspectives and experiences. We meet quarterly and discuss how to promote, support and improve the program. An important part of our SI Board is subcommittee work done in collaboration with parents, teachers, administrators and students. These smaller groups focus their efforts in specific areas in order to accomplish goals and projects throughout the year. The subcommittees for the 2023-2024 school year were as follows:

1. Information and Outreach - To coordinate outreach activities for SI families and to communicate about SI programming through website and social media.
2. Exchange Program - To support the development and implementation of a Spanish Exchange Program
3. Events - To help coordinate and support SI related events like Multicultural Night
4. Spanish Staff Transition - To help develop a welcome document to support future teachers and staff from Spain.​

The accomplishments we have made in these areas are outstanding, thanks to the dedication of all of the Board's members. We will continue this work in 2024-2025 and incorporate any new ideas brought to the Board. We are always excited to welcome new members with passionate energy and creative ideas. If you would like to get involved, please reach out to Meagan Pike at mpike@mursd.org, and she will add you to our contact list. Additionally, SI Board Meetings will be announced via email to all SI families, so be on the lookout for those notifications in the fall.

Email: mpike@mursd.org
Website: http://mursdspanishimmersion.weebly.com/
Location: 150 North Avenue, Mendon, MA, USA
Phone: 508-634-1585