Immersion program continues to excite S panish Immersion has been part of the Bellevue School District for 14 years and it still has the power to excite parents, teachers and students. Their reasoning was, first, that young students are able to learn a second language quickly when they are immersed, and, second, when children are immersed in language study, they also are learning more about the structure of language, which would serve them in learning English as well. At first glance, the immersion classrooms look like any other in Bellevue.
Students recite the flag salute, attend art classes and visit the library.
What's different is the language they're using to communicate. Second and third graders are speaking Spanish as effortlessly as other Sunset students are speaking English. English is introduced into the immersion classroom in the second semester of second grade in the form of one-half hour of daily instruction. By the time students reach fourth grade, they receive a full hour of English daily. The rationale for limiting classroom English instruction is that students are exposed to English whenever they're not in school.