Language Immersion at McDonald

Our language immersion model makes it possible for our kids to successfully learn math and science in a classroom where the teacher speaks only Spanish or Japanese.

An Instructional Assistant (IA) or Intern are an essential part of the model. He or she is a full-time presence in every immersion classroom, and a native speaker of Spanish or Japanese.

IAs and Interns not only reduce the student-teacher ratio, but by adding a second native speaker in the classroom, they make it possible for kids to hear and have conversations in the target language.

IAs and Interns are integral to our kids’ success learning Math and Science in a foreign language.

We asked our teachers what they needed from us in order to help our kids succeed in math and science. Their answer was clear: we need to continue providing IAs and Interns for our classrooms.

"Having an IA or intern is invaluable," says Spanish immersion teach Diana Einmo, who points out that the mean MAP score for math this Fall and Winter for all McDonald first graders as a group is at 95% as it compares to other first graders nationally.  (The first graders in the Seattle School District, by contrast, average less than 55%).  IAs and intern provide the support to make such scores possible as well as learn the immersion language.

Learn more about Instructional Assistants and Interns here.