Brockton's George School Welcomes French Consulate Visit

BROCKTON, MA — The Manthala George Jr. Global Studies School welcomed the Charge of Education and Language from the French Consulate on Tuesday. The visit included a tour of the school's dual language immersion programs.

During the tour, Noah Ouellette, the K-12 education officer for the Consulate General of France in Boston, met staff and students in the school's Amitie French-English Immersion program.

"Research shows that dual immersion programs like those offered here in Brockton have a lasting, positive impact on student achievement," said Ouellette. "I applaud the district's efforts to instill a love of languages at a young age and I look forward to our continued collaboration."

Spanish and Portuguese immersion programs are also available to students at George School.

"We're proud of the work our students and faculty put in every day and we welcome any opportunity to share their experiences with those who recognize the value of bilingualism and biliteracy," said Principal Natalie Pohl. "We thank Mr. Ouellette for visiting our school today and for the ongoing support of the French Consulate for our program and other dual language programs throughout New England."

Brockton Public Schools offers two-way and one-way programs beginning in kindergarten, with all content areas taught in both English and the target language. The goal of these programs is to encourage biliteracy, bilingualism and cross-cultural competency at a young age.

"In Brockton, we believe the diversity of our student population is an asset to learning," said interim Superintendent Michael Thomas. "Many BPS students speak a language other than English at home. We want to bring that experience into our classrooms that our students can learn from each other and build important language skills."

In addition to dual language immersion programs at the elementary school level, Brockton also offers Chinese, Latin and Spanish courses beginning in sixth grade. Brockton High School students with advanced language skills are eligible to enroll in the medical interpretation and translation program offered in French/Haitian Creole, Portuguese/Cape Verdean Creole and Spanish.