About Immersion Programs

The goals of  PGCPS Immersion Programs are for students to become Bilingual, Biliterate, and Multicultural.  In PGCPS, we have 12 Immersion schools with 6 models of immersion education throughout the county.Our French Immersion program was started in 1985, and our Chinese and Spanish Immersion programs were started in 2014.  Many of our schools are internationally recognized by the governments of France and Spain as high quality bilingual education programs.

Immersion is a rigorous academic program where students learn Math, Science, Social Studies, and Immersion Language Arts in Chinese, French, or Spanish K-8.  In high school, Immersion students continue studying high levels of language proficiency in their Immersion language.

In our immersion schools, students have the same opportunities to participate in before and after school activities such as Music, STEM, and sports teams/clubs as they would in a boundary school.  Our schools are also designated as TAG (Talented and Gifted) in the Regular Classroom schools.

Immersion programs enable students to achieve proficiency in a target language while simultaneously mastering subject content from various disciplines. In these programs, language is not treated as a separate subject but serves as the medium through which core instruction is provided.

Students in PGCPS Immersion programs develop high levels of proficiency, which they put to use during local, overnight, and international field trips. Students take international and domestic proficiency tests such as the DELF, DELE, CCCC, TOCFL, and STAMP throughout their educational experiences in PGCPS with the ultimate objective of earning the Maryland State Seal of Biliteracy. For some students, this is a great opportunity to maintain their home language while building language and literacy in a second language.

What do PGCPS Immersion students do at each level?

Elementary

Students are acquiring biliteracy skills (ability to read and write) in English and the Immersion language.

Students are acquiring listening and speaking skills in the Immersion language as well.

Immersion Students outscore their peers on standardized tests like MCAP.

Immersion students perform as well as, or better than, their peers on literacy assessments like DIBELS.

Dora Kennedy French Immersion and Maya Angelou French Immersion are LabelFrancEducation schools, recognized by the French government for being high-quality bilingual education programs.

Cesar Chavez Dual Spanish Immersion School is an International Spanish Academy, recognized by the Spanish government for being a high-quality bilingual education program.

French Immersion students take the DELF (Diplôme d'Études en Langue Française) international exam to earn international diplomas that recognize their high levels of language proficiency.

All Immersion schools have at least 3 stars on the MSDE State report card.

Students can leave elementary school at Intermediate-Low level of proficiency.

Middle School

Students accelerate their learning of the Immersion language through high-quality Immersion Language Arts classes.

Students continue to explore the cultures where the Immersion language is spoken.

Students prepare to begin assessments for the Maryland State Seal of Biliteracy.

Students continue to outperform their peers on standardized tests like MCAP.

Students study a third language (Chinese, Italian, or Russian).

Students leave middle school with 4 World Languages high school credits . They receive HS World Language Level 1 and 2 for their 7th and 8th grade Immersion Language Arts classes.  They receive HS World Languages Level 1 and 2 for their third language (Chinese, Italian, or Russian) classes.

Dora Kennedy French Immersion and Maya Angelou French Immersion are LabelFrancEducation schools, recognized by the French government for being high-quality bilingual education programs.

Kettering Middle School is an International Spanish Academy, recognized by the Spanish government for being a high-quality bilingual education program.

Students can leave the middle school program at the Intermediate-High level of proficiency.

High School

Students continue accelerating their Immersion language learning to higher levels of proficiency.

Students take the DELF (Diplôme d'Études en Langue Française) and DELE (Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera) international exams to earn diplomas that are recognized by international educational institutions and employers.

Students take Advanced Placement classes to possibly earn college credit for their language study.

Students are prepared for language-based career pathways and have the opportunity to complete a Community Interpreter Certification course, which may lead directly to employment as a Community Interpreter.

Students can achieve the Maryland State Seal of Biliteracy.

Students can leave the program at an Advanced-Mid level of proficiency.

Beyond PGCPS Immersion
PGCPS Immersion program graduates are ready to be:

Enrolled

Students can receive college credit for the Maryland State Seal of Biliteracy and  the Advanced Placement language test, depending on college policies.

Enlisted

Language proficiency is highly valued by the military and the National Security Agency. 
People with advanced language proficiency skills can become linguists or interpreters in the military.

Employed

Many employers seek out bilingual candidates to support their needs.
Some employers may even pay more to someone who is bilingual through a stipend or differential.

Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs who are bilingual can interact with more people and more communities to help build their business. 

Additional Resources:
The Impact of the French Immersion Program on Achievement and College Readiness
How Language Immersion Positively Impacts Young Brains
Maryland State Seal of Biliteracy
Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers
ACTFL Proficiency Levels Explained
Oral Proficiency Levels in the Workplace

Still not sure if Immersion Programs are right for your child?

In order to “survive” in the classroom and learn new material, your child learns to use context as well as the visuals and gestures they experience to make meaning of what they are hearing in the classroom.

Students in PGCPS Immersion Programs follow the same curriculum as their peers, use the same resources (when available) as their peers, take the same internal and standardized assessments as their peers, but they become proficient in another language while doing so.

Research shows that “Multilingual learners bring a wealth of resources and perspectives to their schools and classrooms that can strengthen learning for all students. They bring linguistic and cultural knowledge from experiences in their families and communities, home languages, variation in discourse practices, and, in some cases, with schooling in other countries that affords opportunities for sharing new ideas and new ways of thinking.”

Institute of Education Sciences. (2024). An asset-based approach to multilingual learner terminology. U.S. Department of Education.https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/Products/Region/west/Resource/107986 

A 2017 study showed that PGCPS French Immersion students were more college and career-ready than their peers.

Research has shown that students that participate in Immersion Programs perform as well as, or better than, their peers on standardized tests.

Immersion Models in PGCPS