Alicia R. Chacón International School

31°42′18″N 106°20′55″W / 31.705087°N 106.348571°W / 31.705087; -106.348571InformationTypePublic schoolPrincipalRuben CadenaFaculty48GradesK–8Enrollment792 (2014-2015)Websitewww.yisd.net/aliciarchacon

Alicia R. Chacón International School (Spanish: Escuela Internacional Alicia R. Chacón) is a K–8 school in El Paso, Texas. It is operated by the Ysleta Independent School District.

Chacón has a two way bilingual education program that is intended to teach Spanish-speaking students English and English-speaking students Spanish.^[1] Students may also take a third language; available third languages are Chinese, German, Japanese,^[2] French,^[3] and Russian.^[2] The bilingual education program was developed to encourage speakers of one language to retain their language and to also learn a second language at the same time. This differs from other bilingual programs in Texas, where non-English speaking students are expected to learn solely in English once they achieve a certain competency in English. As of 2009 Chacón has long waiting lists of students. Nate Blakeslee of Texas Monthly argued that other Texas school districts should use Chacón's bilingual program.^[4]

History

The school, which opened in 1995, was named after Mexican American politician and judge, Alicia R. Chacón.^[5] Its two-way bilingual program for kindergarten through grade 3 opened that year as part of the U.S. Department of Education-funded Project Mariposa ("Mariposa" means butterfly), an effort between different school districts. Each following year an additional grade level with bilingual education was established; in 2000 the school's first eighth grade class graduated.^[6]

In 1995 the school had 352 available spaces for students. By June 25, 1995 234 places were taken.^[7]

Curriculum

Students are expected to gain a high level of literacy in Spanish. As of 2009^[update] early grades course content is primarily taught in Spanish, but in later grades English becomes the predominant language of instruction. ^[4]

Mandarin Chinese, German, Japanese, French and Russian were to be offered in the coursework from the school's beginning.^[7]

Student body

As of 2001^[update] 95% of the students are Hispanic and Latino, and the remainder belong to other ethnicities.^[6]

References

External links

• Official website
• Alicia R. Chacon Elementary School at the Wayback Machine (archive index)