Idaho Students Learning English & Spanish In Kindergarten

It's tough out there in the working world, and we want our kids to have every advantage they can before they enter the workforce, right? Well, one school district has taken it upon themselves to make sure their students are able to communicate well with others. In two different languages, to be exact.

As of this school year, some Twin Falls School District students will be able to learn in English, as well as Spanish, beginning in kindergarten. Tyler Matlock, principal of Oregon Trail Elementary School, breaks down exactly how this will work for students:

So, there are a total of 44 kids at each grade level. 22 kids are with a Spanish-speaking teacher, 22 kids are with the English-speaking teacher. They Flip halfway through the day to get instruction in the other language.

 

After that, there is a commitment by the school district to have a plan for the middle schoolers and high schoolers. That plan won't look exactly like it does here at the elementary level, because in middle school, you have credits and different classes and things like that.

Is this going to help kids once they exit the school system to get a job? Well, most likely! Bilingual workers earn, on average, up to 20% more per year than employees who only speak one language. We're no math experts, but that sounds like a decently good advantage to us!

If that doesn't already have you feeling better about the future, maybe a little inspiration from TikTok can set you right: