Posted on: Friday, 27 January 2006, 18:00 CST
By HOWARD BUCK, Columbian staff writer
Tucked into a small corner of the Club Green Meadows health club off Northeast 78th Street, primary-colored play equipment, vivid rugs with state map motifs and oversize alphabet charts give away its youthful bent.
But there's more than child's play inside La Escuela, Clark County's only full-time Spanish immersion school for English- speaking youngsters.
Already the top choice in Vancouver-Portland for parents nurturing world-class dreams for their children, the two-year-old school is striving to meet its own lofty goals.
"I firmly believe that Americans need to be bilingual," said Carin McCameron, picking up her daughter, Sarah, 3, after six hours of academic and cultural instruction, leavened with some fun and games.
Sarah's pre-kindergarten classes, taught by Colombia native Lizeth Morelos, are worth the 40-minute drive from the family's home in Washougal, McCameron said.
Raised in Hong Kong, McCameron speaks both Cantonese and English. She points to her own path, including teaching school in Nevada, as proof a second language can help raise test scores and open more career doors for Sarah. "To be bilingual, it helps economically. I want to give her the opportunities to do that," McCameron said.
On Saturday, school operators Nathan and Melissa Wilson hope to entice more parents and children to explore the multilingual track. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., they'll host an open house showing off their two native, Spanish-speaking instructors and the rigorous but creative core learning program mapped out by coordinator Sarah Segall.
Visiting children up to the second-grade level are welcome to join a typical hands-on lesson, including writing their name in hieroglyphics, an ancient system of symbols, rather than contemporary letters.
Segall's curriculum builds on trademarked Core Knowledge learning plans developed by a namesake foundation in Charlottesville, Va.
Whether in math, science or arts and crafts, pupils dig beneath surface facts and figures to explore underlying properties. For example, even kindergartners are taught the basics of atoms and matter, rather than merely playing with magnets. There's also a strong focus on social studies and cultural literacy, to broaden students' world views.
"It's very advanced, and the kids love it," Segall said.
That neatly sums up the mantra of the Wilsons, who were inspired to create an immersion school when they moved north from California to the Orchards area as their daughter, Shailey, now almost 7, approached early learning age.
"My wife and I wanted an Ivy League-type of education trying to give her the best of everything," said Nathan Wilson.
Nathan Wilson, who earned multiple degrees at Portland State University, also runs a downtown Portland cafe, while Melissa Wilson oversees the school.
"Knowledge is power. We wanted our daughter to be able to compete internationally," Nathan Wilson said.
Finding no school with sufficient rigor in the metro area, the couple set out to build its own from scratch. After an inaugural summer session in Vancouver's Marshall Community Center in 2004, La Escuela launched weekday classes that autumn, then moved to Club Green Meadows in January 2005.
It's had slow, steady and quiet growth since. With minimal advertising, La Escuela has cultivated about 30 students who attend all- or partial-day classes. Morelos teaches pre-school and pre- kindergarten pupils, while former Ecuador resident Paola Gagliardo instructs kindergarten and first-grade students.
Plan to add grade levels
The Wilsons plan to continue adding one grade level each year to the school, which has earned state certification, possibly expanding toward full pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
They intend to hire a French-speaking instructor by September to boost language options and would like to add Chinese teacher later.
And they've got eyes on a new school site on 164th Avenue in east Vancouver, with more room to spread out than their current quarters.
That sounds great to Sol Piguet of Felida. She and her husband decided their son, Gage, 6, would benefit from immersion Spanish. What they didn't count on is how easily the language's phonetics translate into mastering English, too, plus the "breadth and depth of knowledge" Gage has received from the overall curriculum, she said.
Spoiled by Gage's success, the couple is inclined to try to stay with La Escuela if it can expand. "We don't see how we put him into a public school," Piguet said.
Early-age foreign language instruction is picking up in Vancouver, both in public and private settings. Vancouver's Sarah J. Anderson Elementary launched a new dual-language program in September, with two classes each of kindergartners and first- graders, evenly split among native Spanish speakers and native English speakers. Both grades have one English-only instructor and one Spanish-only instructor, and pupils alternate languages in all subjects but reading, where they learn in their native language. The program is open only to Vancouver students within the school's enrollment boundary, however.
There's also the nonprofit American West Chinese School, open to children through high school age, which runs language and crafts classes each Sunday at Clark College's Hanna Hall.
Tuition at La Escuela is on par with local day-care services, around $150 per week for five six-hour days of instruction. There's a sliding scale for half-day or partial-week attendance, and sibling discounts. All pupils must wear uniforms: navy-and-red plaid jumpers or skirts for girls, red or white polo shirts and navy blue pants for boys, plus special sweaters and caps for some occasions.
"What they're giving her is different from anything in the public schools," said McCameron, the proud parent of Sarah, the pre- kindergarten pupil.
She and her husband can't keep pace speaking Spanish but continue to marvel at new social skills Sarah brings home from La Escuela.
"I know that it's working," she said.
If you go
Who: La Escuela Spanish immersion school.
What: Open house for interested parents, pupils through 2nd- grade level.
When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Club Green Meadows, west entrance, 7703 N.E. 72nd Ave.
Information: Call 360-772-5963 or see www.languageacademyinc.com.
Source: Columbian