What's Happening in Catonsville, MD…

Students in the fourth grade at Catonsville's Johnnycake Elementary School are making great progress in learning to speak Spanish.

Johnnycake is one of 10 elementary schools in Baltimore County taking part in a new pilot program that will offer a second language to students as early as fourth grade.

Students in Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) are offered Spanish as an elective starting in seventh grade. However, some children do not begin learning the language until two years later, according to Brian Schiffer. Schiffer is director of world languages, fine arts and social sciences for BCPS, and believes that students should start learning a second language much earlier than ninth grade. Thus, the pilot program was created to offer the language to fourth-graders.

According to the county's school superintendent, Dallas Dance, it is the goal of BCPS to graduate young people who can compete in a global economy, and a second language is part of that. In order to become proficient in Spanish, kids have to start early; if they begin in fourth grade, they should be able to speak Spanish fluently by the time they graduate.

Schiffer adds that if the pilot program is successful, elementary school students will be able to start Spanish II in sixth grade. In addition, all fourth-grade BCPS students will be able to take Spanish next year.

BCPS officials could work with brochure printers to create a booklet for parents, explaining the program.