Newsletter - Fall 2010

Bienvenidos 2010 – 2011 By Astrid Clough McDowell, President The Elementary Spanish Program would like to welcome you to another exciting year of Spanish! Our organization was started in Boulder in the early 1970s when a group of Boulder parents and teachers decided to stand up for early-age secondary language acquisition, after the BVSD cut it out of the standard curriculum (due to budget constraints). Unless your child attends a charter, private, or dual-language school, a foreign language is probably not offered until middle school. ESP exists to provide young children with before- or after-school Spanish classes at their respective schools. We strongly believe that it is vital that children begin to learn a second language at the earliest age possible. We are proud to serve 646 students this year! We are actively seeking Parent Advocates to be representatives of our organization in their neighborhoods and respective schools. We also invite you to attend one of our monthly meetings of the Board of Directors. If you are interested in becoming involved or even just volunteering a few hours a month, please contact our office at 303-440-7196. On behalf of the organization, I would like to thank each and every person that has contributed to the existence and success of the program. Your commitment and dedication to the broader education of our children is sincerely appreciated! Please contact me if you have any thoughts for the future of the Elementary Spanish Program or the relationships within the community and the school districts.

In this issue: Bienvenidos 2010 – 2011 Fall Semester of Spanish Classes Spanish Classes at Cherry Creek Academy Día de los Muertos Exhibit After-School Absentee Procedure Thank You to our Contributors Previous newsletters: Spring 2010 Fall 2009 Spring 2009 Fall 2008 Spring 2008 Fall 2008 Spring 2008

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Fall Semester of Spanish Classes

By Hanne Brondum, Director

¡Felices Fiestas!

A great semester is coming to an end. The youngest students have been singing, reciting poems, playing, using TPR (a physical action with commands in Spanish) and learning through immersion (very little English in the class). The intermediate levels have added reading and writing to the lesson plan, and the more advanced students have been invited into the exciting world of grammar, reading, and much more. ESP teachers work hard to provide the most efficient classes using fun and engaging methodologies.

Choosing Spanish learning is an investment in your child’s future. ESP students build a base and hopefully a love for learning the language and investigating the Spanish-speaking world. Gracias students for being great learners! Gracias parents for choosing Spanish! Gracias teachers for dedicating your expertise and time to the children!

We are looking forward to seeing you in January. ¡Les deseamos un Prospero Año Nuevo!

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Spanish Classes at Cherry Creek Academy

By Shana Alaniz

This year, the Elementary Spanish Program has contracted with Cherry Creek Academy (CCA), a K – 8 charter school in Englewood, to provide Spanish classes to third through eighth-grade students as part of the school’s core curriculum. Michele Stockham (3rd – 5th grades) and Shana Alaniz (6th – 8th grades) provide classes from 8:00am until 3:10pm Tuesdays through Fridays. As is customary with our program, the teachers speak predominantly Spanish in the classroom, incorporate TPR regularly, and utilize a wide variety of exercises, activities, games, songs and rhymes that engage different learning styles and that appeal to the students. Our focus is on fostering a love for the language and on developing the confidence and skills to communicate interactively in Spanish. Third-graders are using “Viva el Español” System A, fourth-graders “Viva el Español” System B, fifth and sixth-graders “Español con los Pérez; Volume 1: La Familia,” and seventh and eighth-graders “Realidades 1” (Prentice Hall), a Spanish 1 curriculum. As CCA is a Core Knowledge School, we also focus on the Standards for Foreign Language Learning and on developing the Standards’ competencies. Ultimately, we hope that the students are ready to move comfortably into Spanish 2 by the end of 8th grade!

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Dia de los Muertos Exhibit at the Longmont Museum Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a happy family celebration in Mexico during which families pray for and remember lost loved ones. Families create ofrendas (altars) in their homes with photos, sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods of the deceased. At midnight on November 2nd, the families gather at the cemetery and spend the night celebrating with the deceased. They eat, dance, and have a good time in memory of their relatives and friends. This year, ESP teachers Veronica Munive, Ana Guttridge (Kena), and Ana Maria Botero created a beautiful ofrenda in memory of 22 famous Latin artists from different Spanish-speaking countries. The altar was part of the Día de los Muertos exhibit at the Longmont Museum. We encourage you to take a few minutes and enjoy the slideshow of the exhibit.

2010-2011 School-year Statistics 646 students 76 classes 52 teachers 33 schools 34 scholarships awarded

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After-School Absentee Procedure

In an effort to ensure the safety of our students, ESP has instituted the following procedure for children attending after-school Spanish classes:

1. Every teacher will take attendance within the first 5 minutes of class.
2. The teacher will notify the main office of any absent students.
3. An ESP representative at the main office will contact a parent or guardian to ensure that the child is safe.
4. If a parent or guardian cannot be located, an ESP representative will contact the school to inquire as to whether the child was absent or left early that day.
5. If the school cannot confirm that a child was absent or left early, we will ask the school personnel to make an announcement over the loud-speaker requesting that the child go directly to the school’s main office.
6. If a child usually takes a school bus home, the ESP representative will contact the Transportation Office in an effort to locate the child. If the child is located on the school bus, he/she will be returned to the school.
7. If a child usually attends the school’s after-care program, the ESP representative will contact that program in order to determine whether the child “forgot” to attend Spanish class.
8. If the child has not been located after exhausting the above steps, an ESP representative will leave a message for the parent or guardian and will notify the school.

The ESP representatives follow these steps for all unexcused absent children in the order that notifications are received. In order to prevent problems and avoid frustration and worry, PLEASE CONTACT EITHER THE TEACHER OR THE ESP OFFICE IF YOUR CHILD IS GOING TO BE ABSENT FROM SPANISH CLASS. Thank you!

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We appreciate your support The Elementary Spanish Program is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization. Your donation will be highly appreciated and is tax-deductible! ESP thanks its many volunteers and donors whose generosity makes it possible to keep our tuition affordable. In particular, we’d like to recognize: Parent Volunteers ESP Computer Maintenance & Repair - Joe Barger ESP Web site Design, Maintenance, and Upgrades - Dean Garyet Principals and School Staff ESP Board Members Wish List Laptop Computer Video Camera Stuffed Animals/Puppets Movies or Books in Spanish Binders/Folders Construction Paper

ESP Song CD, lyrics, & translation are available for a suggested $5 donation.

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