<div dir="ltr"><h1></h1><h1>Parents ask for Spanish dual-language program at Casper school</h1>
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<a title="Park Elementary Spanish" rel="<p>Zoey Pickett, left, and Nevaeh Hodge work on creating Christmas cards during their fourth and fifth-grade Spanish lesson Friday at Park Elementary School in Casper. All Park students in kindergarten through fifth grade currently receive 90 minutes of Spanish instruction per week, and the school has sought to implement a dual-language immersion Spanish program.</p>" name="Alan Rogers | Star-Tribune" href="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/e5/9e553e25-8f50-5f6c-8049-0dd4c0df734d/52a3dac25517f.preview-620.jpg"><img alt="Park Elementary Spanish" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/e5/9e553e25-8f50-5f6c-8049-0dd4c0df734d/52a3dac27f8fe.preview-100.jpg"></a>
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<a title="Park Elementary Spanish" rel="<p>Spanish teacher Maria Garcia helps a student write a Christmas card in Spanish during a fourth and fifth-grade lesson Friday at Park Elementary School in Casper. All Park students in kindergarten through fifth grade currently receive 90 minutes of Spanish instruction per week, and the school has sought to implement a dual-language immersion Spanish program. </p>" name="Alan Rogers | Star-Tribune" href="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/82/c829fab3-1dc2-5776-aeac-965dc14bd3df/52a3dac2cecc4.preview-620.jpg"><img alt="Park Elementary Spanish" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/82/c829fab3-1dc2-5776-aeac-965dc14bd3df/52a3dac30286b.preview-100.jpg"></a>
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<a title="Park Elementary Spanish" rel="<p>Fourth and fifth-grade students create Christmas cards in Spanish during a lesson Friday at Park Elementary School in Casper. All Park students in kindergarten through fifth grade currently receive 90 minutes of Spanish instruction per week, and the school has sought to implement a dual-language immersion Spanish program. </p>" name="Alan Rogers | Star-Tribune" href="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/5b/05b2134d-c25c-5fd3-98dd-25ae98268008/52a3dac0af8a9.preview-620.jpg"><img alt="Park Elementary Spanish" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/5b/05b2134d-c25c-5fd3-98dd-25ae98268008/52a3dac0d81c5.preview-100.jpg"></a>
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<div id="blox-gallery-caption" class=""><p class="">Alan Rogers | Star-Tribune</p><div class=""><p>Spanish
teacher Maria Garcia helps a student write a Christmas card in Spanish
during a fourth and fifth-grade lesson Friday at Park Elementary School
in Casper. All Park students in kindergarten through fifth grade
currently receive 90 minutes of Spanish instruction per week, and the
school has sought to implement a dual-language immersion Spanish
program. </p></div></div>
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<div class=""><span class="">21 hours ago</span> • <span class=""><a href="http://trib.com/search/?l=50&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&byline=By%20LEAH%20TODD%0AStar%20Tribune%20staff%20writer">By LEAH TODD
Star Tribune staff writer</a></span></div><div class=""><a id="comment_46de8532-415a-5eb1-9d8c-a1acb40d820c" class="" href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/parents-ask-for-spanish-dual-language-program-at-casper-school/article_46de8532-415a-5eb1-9d8c-a1acb40d820c.html#comments"><span class=""></span><span class="">(3)</span> Comments</a></div>
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<h4 class=""><a href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/chinese-and-english-dual-language-program-grows-in-casper/article_f94160f0-be6c-55b2-8438-5afcddc290be.html" title="Chinese and English: Dual language program grows in Casper">Chinese and English: Dual language program grows in Casper</a></h4>
<div class=""><a href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/chinese-and-english-dual-language-program-grows-in-casper/article_f94160f0-be6c-55b2-8438-5afcddc290be.html"><img alt="" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/32/7326e488-cb9b-59cf-b5dc-aaed84d8e237/526c8b253bb54.preview-100.jpg"></a></div>
<p>Anastasia Lite Li is a soft-spoken woman until her students enter the Chinese classroom. <a href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/chinese-and-english-dual-language-program-grows-in-casper/article_f94160f0-be6c-55b2-8438-5afcddc290be.html" class="">Read more</a></p>
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<h4 class=""><a href="http://trib.com/news/local/casper/parents-officials-call-for-school-board-s-commitment-to-dual/article_02df0ace-b383-5531-b3cd-5123fa1ee8fb.html" title="Parents, officials call for school board's commitment to dual language in Casper">Parents, officials call for school board's commitment to dual language in Casper</a></h4>
<div class=""><a href="http://trib.com/news/local/casper/parents-officials-call-for-school-board-s-commitment-to-dual/article_02df0ace-b383-5531-b3cd-5123fa1ee8fb.html"><img alt="" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/2d/e2d150c7-2f35-5ce9-8514-7ac686e76961/5271c6819dbc2.preview-100.jpg"></a></div>
<p>Parents and school officials asked the
Natrona County School Board on Monday for a long-term commitment to a
Chinese dual-language immersion p… <a href="http://trib.com/news/local/casper/parents-officials-call-for-school-board-s-commitment-to-dual/article_02df0ace-b383-5531-b3cd-5123fa1ee8fb.html" class="">Read more</a></p>
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<h4 class=""><a href="http://trib.com/news/local/casper/natrona-county-school-district-to-host-dual-language-information-meetings/article_a15ae665-73bf-5ce2-8204-948d636080c3.html" title="Natrona County School District to host dual language information meetings">Natrona County School District to host dual language information meetings</a></h4>
<div class=""><a href="http://trib.com/news/local/casper/natrona-county-school-district-to-host-dual-language-information-meetings/article_a15ae665-73bf-5ce2-8204-948d636080c3.html"><img alt="" src="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/trib.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/7a/e7a37481-05c6-57ce-b685-ebea08f1b294/52956a14ce763.preview-100.jpg"></a></div>
<p>Parents of incoming kindergarten students
for the 2014-15 school year can learn more about the Natrona County
School District's dual-language … <a href="http://trib.com/news/local/casper/natrona-county-school-district-to-host-dual-language-information-meetings/article_a15ae665-73bf-5ce2-8204-948d636080c3.html" class="">Read more</a></p>
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<h3>Interested in dual language?</h3>
<p><strong>Dual language immersion information meetings:</strong></p><p><span>When: Noon on Dec. 11; Noon on Jan. 21</span></p><p><span>Where: </span>Central Services Facility, 970 N. Glenn Rd. in Casper.</p>
<p><strong>Dual language immersion open houses:</strong></p><p>When: 4 - 6 p.m., Jan. 9</p><p>Where: Paradise Valley Elementary School</p><p>When: 6 p.m., Jan. 9</p><p>Where: Park Elementary School</p><p>Interested parents should contact Beth Millay at 307-253-5322 to reserve a place at one of these meetings.</p>
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<h3>NCSD Board meeting Monday</h3>
<p>The Natrona County School District Board of
Trustees will meet Monday to give a first reading to its policy for
approving dual language programs.</p><p>The board will also:</p><ul><li>Interview candidates and appoint a new trustee to fill a board seat vacated by former Trustee Audrey Cotherman, <a href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/natrona-county-school-board-s-audrey-cotherman-steps-down-after/article_c303fea8-944a-5398-9b57-73833abf9e98.html">who resigned last month after five years on the board.</a></li>
<li>Hear an update on facilities construction.</li><li>Consider authorizing district staff to negotiate a contract with AP
Wyoming for the construction of a new Lincoln Elementary School.</li></ul><p>The trustees' work session will begin with candidate interviews at 5 p.m. in the district's <span>Central Services Facility at </span><span>970 N. Glenn Rd. in Casper, followed by the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m.</span></p>
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<p>As Natrona County school officials craft a policy to
approve future dual-language immersion programs, a group of local
parents is revamping its efforts to advocate for a second such program
in Casper.</p><p>Park Elementary School was one of three schools to <a href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/natrona-county-school-board-oks-dual-language-immersion-in-one/article_ce3dbf57-d371-5983-8ebf-25c7812f105e.html" target="_blank">apply for a dual-language immersion program</a> when interest first surfaced here last year. Though the district this spring approved <a href="http://trib.com/news/local/education/chinese-and-english-dual-language-program-grows-in-casper/article_f94160f0-be6c-55b2-8438-5afcddc290be.html">a proposal for a Chinese dual-language immersion program at Paradise Valley Elementary</a>,
and not Park's proposal for a Spanish dual-language immersion program, a
contingency of parents and school officials are still passionate about
the possibility.</p><p>"We are pretty excited and hopeful here," Park
Elementary Principal Dawn DeWald said. "Dual-language, to me, has always
been an exiting opportunity that I think is out there for our
children."</p><p>DeWald, in her first year as principal at Park, was
formerly principal of two bilingual elementary school campuses in Texas.
Park Elementary has offered a traditional Spanish language class to its
K-5 student body for 11 years, she said.</p><p>"As a new principal, the
first parents I met were those who said, 'Is it true you believe in
dual-language immersion? Because we want Spanish,'" she said. </p><p>With
the support of the school's new principal and a school board that has
expressed enthusiasm for the dual-language philosophy, Park parents
crafted a task force to help draw interest to a Spanish dual-language
immersion program at their school.</p><p>A Spanish immersion program
would fit well into the Park community, said Nohora Groce, the parent of
a kindergartner at Park Elementary. There, her daughter receives 90
minutes of Spanish instruction each week. </p><p>The Natrona County
School District Board of Trustees meets Monday to talk about
standardizing its procedure for approving dual-language immersion
programs. </p><p>Groce plans to attend.</p><p>"So they know that we're still there, still interested," Groce said.</p><p>Park
parent Melissa Martorano also supports a Spanish dual-language
immersion program at the school, where her 5-year-old daughter, Bianca,
enjoys what Spanish instruction she is already getting.</p><p>"Bianca just can't get enough Spanish," Martorano said. "She has an ear for it."</p><p>Park
Elementary uses multi-age classrooms to use older students' knowledge
to leverage younger students' progress. Pending district approval,
DeWald said, the inaugural group of Spanish dual-language learners at
Park could include one class of kindergartners and one class of first
graders learning part of the day in English and part of the day in
Spanish.</p><p>"The interest is pretty strong," NCSD's associate
superintendent of curriculum and instruction, Mark Mathern, said of Park
Elementary's proposal. "I think we’re close to, but not quite there
yet, on the numbers of students we would need."</p><p>Mathern said board
support for the dual-language concept is high, due in large part to
enthusiastic parent efforts over the past year.</p><p>"You're seeing
real positive comments from the board about how to make this part of our
culture here in Natrona County," Mathern said.</p><p>At its meeting
Monday, the board will give a first reading to its proposed policy to
standardize the approval process for dual-language immersion programs.
According to a draft of the policy, the board is considering requiring
schools interested in a dual-language immersion program to demonstrate
strong parental support, a positive consensus from the school, viable
enrollment numbers and adequate available budget and staff resources.</p>
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