Distinguished DLI: Eighth grade DLI student Riley Sipe works on his DLI homework in spanish.
In 2014, Atlanta Public Schools (APS) launched the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program in selected elementary schools. Under the APS DLI program model, half of students’ K-8 classes are taught in Spanish, and the other half are taught in English. Entrance to the program has been based on a lottery starting in kindergarten. Since its inception, the program has added a grade level each school year and has expanded to now include approximately 1,800 APS students in grades Pre-k through eighth. Next year DLI students will matriculate at NAHS for the first time.
In the APS North Atlanta Cluster, DLI was launched in the 2015-2016 school year at E. Rivers and Garden Hills Elementary Schools, aiming to better meet the district’s diverse needs and bridge the achievement gap of a growing English learner population. Additionally, there was strong community support for a DLI option in public schools. In 2016-2017 Bolton Academy, Morris Brandon Elementary and Sarah Smith Elementary were added to the program. Although it nitially began as a K-12 program, in 2019 APS initiated a DLI Pre-K program now at Garden Hills with plans to extend this to Sarah Smith Elementary next year. Since the DLI program originated at E. Rivers and Garden Hills, its cohort entering North Atlanta next year will be limited to around 50 students. In future years, however, there will be approximately 140-175 DLI students enrolling in 9th grade at NAHS.
As DLI students are often with the same group of students from kindergarten through high school, they form very close friendships and connections with each other. Riley Sipe, an…
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