It was to maintain that heritage language.” “That's where the idea of Heritage Academy came from. “We had many families whose children primarily speak English that wanted their children to regain their heritage language,” Ruiz said. They would continue to learn school subjects in their native tongue while acquiring English.Īnd for Hispanic students born and raised in the U.S., their Spanish-language heritage is preserved, said Robert Ruiz, a school choice advocate who was integral to establishing the pilot project and organizing parent input in the program. Vote accordingly.įorbes said this could be particularly beneficial for native Spanish speakers learning English as a second language. More: Opinion: Oklahoma's CEO of education has more sway than you'd think. In other words, Spanish is not relegated to Spanish class. Heritage Academy's goal is not only for students to read, write and speak in two languages, Forbes said, but to learn new academic content in both. Western Gateway Elementary offers Spanish immersion in the Wheeler District, and Le Monde International School in Norman does so in Spanish and French.Įpic Charter Schools at 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City. The program will be one of the few language immersion schools in the Oklahoma City area. English language arts and history classes will be taught in English.
To simplify the 50-50 split, Heritage Academy will teach all math and science classes in Spanish through 12th grade, Forbes said. That’s when classes level out to 50% instruction in English and 50% in Spanish, and it stays that way through the end of high school. The school gradually adds more hours of English instruction with each passing year until fourth grade. Children in pre-K and kindergarten will spend 90% of the school day learning in Spanish and 10% in English. The ideal entry point in the program is pre-K, particularly for non-Spanish-speaking students, Forbes said. More: Oklahoma City school board member steps down, new member to be appointed
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“If I could have gone to a school like this, I would have,” he said.Įlementary students in the program will attend full school days Monday through Friday at Heritage Academy, unlike their Epic peers who typically visit Blended Learning Centers a few days a week or spend most of their time in virtual learning.
Now, Forbes is crafting the kind of school he wishes he could have attended, one with teachers from seven Spanish-speaking countries and where students spend half the day or more practicing the language. He’s since taught Spanish in Thailand and worked in Oklahoma City and Tulsa schools, including two years as principal of Zarrow International School, one of Tulsa Public Schools’ two language-immersion elementary schools. “We felt like if we could get the right leader in place then everything else would trickle down,” Banfield said.Įnter Forbes, a salsa dancer turned educator and principal.Ī Tulsa native, Forbes first ignited his enthusiasm for Spanish in grade school, a passion that carried him to a Spanish major at Oklahoma City University and multiple semesters abroad.Īfter working as a cruise-ship salsa performer after college, Forbes pursued a career in education. The blended learning center off of south Interstate 35 opened in 2019 as a hub for Epic’s bilingual student services and cultural activities, like folkloric dance and Mariachi music.īut, the pilot project needed leadership that could create a more defined program structure and find the right curricula for bilingual students, said Epic Superintendent Bart Banfield. Kelly Forbes, director of Epic Charter Schools' Heritage Academy, speaks about a new dual language curriculum for pre-K through 12th grade students wanting to learn in both English and Spanish.
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