92. FLES at First Program is ¡fantástico!

The emphasis on content in our teacher-designed STEAM curriculum—along with exposure to cultural products, practices, and perspectives—distinguishes Dalton’s language program for young students and prepares students for our increasingly multilingual and global world.

Four years ago we started with five classes of bright and eager kindergarteners and the conviction that learning language is not just beneficial for young students but fun as well! Now with over 400 children in four grades learning Spanish at First Program, we are seeing the fruits of our labors and being rewarded with students who demonstrate an ever-growing level of Spanish language proficiency.

What sets our program apart from other language programs around the city is the attention to content as a vehicle for learning language. We use a teacher-designed STEAM-based curriculum in which we use Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math concepts to teach Spanish language and culture. Along with STEAM themes, we expose students to cultural products, practices, and perspectives from the Spanish-speaking world. For example, students learn about Guatemala and worry dolls, explore Colombian artist Fernando Botero’s unique style of painting, read Cuban poet José Martí, and dance salsa to the music of Cuban singer Celia Cruz.

As we move into the Middle School next year with grade 4, we are designing and developing brand new courses that will serve the needs of our ever-more-proficient polyglots.

We are thrilled by the impact our Spanish program has had on the Dalton community. With enthusiastic and talented students, supportive parents and administrators, and dedicated and creative educators, we are gratified to be contributing to the development of the multilingual citizens for an ever increasingly global world. These up-and-coming global citizens are nothing short of ¡impresionantes!
—Lori Langer de Ramirez, Ph.D, Director, World and Classical Language Department