Dual-Language Elementary Coming To Inwood's Good Shepherd Space

INWOOD, NY — For School In The Square, a charter middle school on Wadsworth Avenue, expanding into younger grades is really just a way to spend more time with the family its leaders created when opening four years ago, Principal Carrie Amon says.

"The longer we have our kids, we believe the stronger we'll be," Amon said about the school's plan to open an elementary arm of the school in Inwood this year. "When that founding class gets to sixth grade, we hope they will be really ready for a very different experience because of the community they're building."

The idea for the new elementary school — which will open in the Good Shepherd School building on Cooper Street in August — grew out of the challenges of only having their current students for three years, especially during the challenging middle school ages, Amon said.

Students would come to School In The Square's middle school from as many as 45 different elementary schools, meaning they brought with them 45 different experiences and levels of learning, she said.

"We really have kids coming from all over," Amon said. "It becomes a big challenge when middle school is such a short period of time. Basically they walk in the door and they're ready to walk out the door."

The set-up of the new elementary school, a dual-language program in English and Spanish, also grew out of observing School In The Square's current middle school population, Amon added.

About 20 percent of the middle schoolers are officially designated as English Language Learners, meaning they are learning English as a second language, but Amon estimates that 80 percent of the school's 300 students speak both English and Spanish at home. The English Language Learner is based on the student's understanding of English, not necessarily just whether it's they're second language.

But with a dual-language program, which School In The Square plans to extend to its middle school, students' bilingualism will be celebrated regardless of their level of understanding, Amon said.

"We want the community and families to know that speaking two languages is a gift and learning about other cultures is a gift," she said."Parents walking into a building where their home language, whether it be English or Spanish, is valued in equal ways — it's a different kind of experience."

At the elementary level, students will have alternating days of English and Spanish in both playtime and learning, according to the school.

Then, in middle school, School In The Square will add a literature class in Spanish and alternate yearly between either a science or social studies Spanish class.

School In The Square will take 100 kindergarten students this year for the new elementary school. A charter school lottery on April 6 will decide which of the hundreds of applicants are offered a spot, Amon said.

In the meantime, school officials will focus on renovating their designated rooms at 108 Cooper St. and are spreading the word about the new elementary program. More information about applying and several upcoming open houses can be found on their website.

"We want to be part of the neighborhood, we want to make sure people know who we are, what we value and how we can support the community," Amon said.