The Spanish Embassy in the U.S. recently announced that Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Sunset Elementary and George Washington Carver Middle were winners of the “School of the Year” Award sponsored by the Education Office of the Spanish Embassy in the U.S., Mester School’s Cervantes Institute, Santillana Group, Anaya Group, Inés Rosales, El Camino del Español, and Tía Tula.
The award is given to schools in the U.S. that show excellence in Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) methodology using both Spanish and English.
The objectives consist of reinforcing Spanish as a target language within the U.S., acknowledging those schools in which students achieve high competence in the Spanish language through the use of CLUIL methodolog, and enhancing communications between the Education Office of the Spanish Embassy and the communities of participating schools.
To qualify, schools must use Spanish in their instructional program 50 percent at the elementary level, 35 percent at the middle school level, and 25 percent at the high school level. The contest is open to public, private, and charter schools in the nation that seek to improve their foreign language program.
“Sunset Elementary is a unique international school providing students a world-class education in dual languages, helping to ensure that students from a very young age become bi-literate and bilingual,” said principal Marlene Leyte-Vidal. “This award truly recognizes our school’s longstanding commitment to excellence in quality foreign language instruction.”
Carver Middle principal Shelley F. Stroleny said, “Our school is dedicated to world language instruction and the prominent role that learning a second or a third language will have on our students, especially as they will enter a highly competitive job market driven by a global economy.”
Both principals were scheduled to fly to Washington, DC., to receive their awards on Friday, May 27.
