Spanish Schools for Kids in Duarte, California
Duarte, California is a great option to live if you want your kids to learn Spanish. More than 45% of Duarte’s population is Hispanic. This means that your children can make international friends, or you may have some Spanish-speaking neighbors. Plus, being bilingual will bring many future benefits for them, like getting into an excellent college or having better career opportunities.
But it can be hard to know which school is the best one for your kids, especially since every child has different goals and needs. Don’t worry, though. TruFluency Kids has created this guide to the best Spanish schools in Duarte, California. Take a look!
About This Resource
Before diving into the list of Spanish schools, we’ll tell you what you’ll find in this guide. You’ll notice that we mention a lot of schools with Spanish immersion programs. That is because we believe that’s the best way to acquire a new language. In immersion classes there’s a full Spanish environment. It’s basically the same way we all learned our native language.
Then, we will mention the best schools from Duarte Unified School District (Duarte USD) (see map). Duarte USD has its own Dual Language Immersion Academy: Beardslee. According to U.S. News & World Report, Duarte USD has 75.4% of Hispanic enrollment, which means your kids will also learn Spanish by talking to their foreign friends. And, according to Niche, 41% of their student population is proficient in math, and 55% is proficient in reading.
But since we know that families have different needs and budgets, we will also mention some Spanish private schools, preschools, and after-schools.
Your opinion always matters. If you have any school recommendations you want to tell us about us, contact us at Trufluency Kids. Everything adds up to make this a great guide for schools that offer Spanish lessons. It’s even better when they’re recommended by parents. Or if you see anything that’s been outdated, you can tell us too. We want to give you all the most accurate information.
Duarte USD Dual Language Immersion Academy
Duarte USD School for Spanish Learning
Beardslee Dual Language Immersion Academy
Duarte USD offers a Spanish-English dual language program through the Beardslee Academy. They want kids to be bilingual, biliterate and multicultural, and to reach a high academic level. They achieve this by having English students and native English speakers together in the dual language classroom. So they’ll learn both languages and appreciate each other’s cultures. Remember that in the program, they’ll study all common content subjects but in both English and Spanish.
Beardslee Academy dual language lessons follow the 90:10 model. So the first year of the dual language classes (kindergarten), kids will learn their subjects 90% in Spanish and 10% in English. As they pass the grade levels, the instruction slightly changes by 10% each year, until they reach a 50/50 model in 4th grade. This model means that 50% of the instruction will be in Spanish, and 50% in English.
Beardslee Academy offers classes from kindergarten to 8th grade. This means that even when your children reach the highest levels (from sixth to eight grade), they’ll still have some classes in the dual language model. Kids should enroll in the dual language program from kindergarten or first grade.
They believe in the three pillars of dual language education. The first one is bilingualism and biliteracy. The second one is academic achievement. And the third one is cultural competency, which will give them social skills for the ever-growing global community.
So far, Beardslee Academy is the only Duarte USD school that offers a Spanish-English dual language education. If you want to enroll your kids, you have to fill out this form. Or you can also call the number: (626) 599-5200.
Beardslee Academy is the third best Duarte USD elementary school, as stated by U.S. News & World Report. 29% of their student population is proficient in math, and 41% is proficient in reading. And they have 96.5% of minority enrollment, of which 91.8% is Hispanic/Latino. So your kids can definitely practice their Spanish with their Hispanic classmates and friends.
Beardslee Elementary School is rated 4.5/5 on GreatSchools and 4.7/5 on Google.
More Excellent Duarte USD Schools
Valley View Academy of Technology and Creative Learning
Valley View Academy wants their students to become critical thinkers through the different rigorous courses that they offer. First, all of their students take at least one hour of coding a week, which leads them to learn about robotics. They also have language arts and math classes.
They have Gifted and Talented (GATE) education, where kids work twice a week on advanced activities, like coding, science, and engineering.
There are different courses, which the school calls specialty programs and innovative offerings. They offer a Dance and Movement program, for kids from TK to 6th grade; there’s hip hop, ballet, jazz and modern dance. They also have a Project Lead the Way (PLTW), where kids learn about engineering and technology. There’s also band and choir programs. And finally, a Think Together program for kids that need extended care; they help them with homework and do other activities.
They also offer transitional kindergarten.
U.S. News & World Report named it the best Duarte USD elementary school, and the 700th best elementary school in California. It has a minority enrollment of 81.8%, with 59.9% being Hispanic/Latino. According to Niche, 62% of their students are proficient in math, and 67% are proficient in reading. It’s rated 5/5 on Facebook, 4.5/5 on GreatSchools, and 4.7/5 on Google.
Andres Duarte Arts Academy
As the name indicates, Andres Duarte Arts Academy focuses on offering different art courses.
They have a dance and movement program for students from TK to 8th grade. The lessons go from thirty minutes to an hour. They have hip hop, ballet, jazz, lyrical and modern dance classes. Kids have the opportunity to perform on showcase events.
There’s a school band, as well as a music program. And they also have a Visual Art program. There, children learn about the different arts, do projects with many materials, learn about art around the world, and even learn about the career opportunities that they could have in the arts.
There is also a Think Together after-school program. Students receive help with their homework, and learn about English, Math, STEM, Youth Development, and arts.
According to U.S. News & World Report 21% of their students are proficient in math, and 35% are proficient in reading. They have a minority enrollment of 96.2%, of which 83.7% is Hispanic/Latino. It is tied in 4-5th place with Maxwell Academy in U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best Duarte USD elementary schools. It’s rated 4.3/5 on Facebook, and 4.3/5 on Google.
Duarte High School
Duarte HS has different departments, like career technical education, English, math, physical education, science, social science, and special education. In each department, teens will learn different things. For example: science courses include earth science, anatomy and physiology, honors biology, and more. Social science includes courses like AP world history, economics, and psychology. And the English department has an English language development course to help students improve English proficiency.
They also have a visual and performing arts department, where students learn 2D and 3D design, art appreciation, and theatre arts.
And even if there’s not a Spanish dual language program, they do have a World Language department, where they teach Mandarin. One of the goals from the Mandarin classes is to learn around 300 characters by the end of the first year, 350 by the end of the second year, and 400 at the end of the third year. Apart from learning the language, students will also have cultural enrichment activities, like field trips to Chinese restaurants, shopping in Chinatown, and attending art exhibitions. This way they’ll also get to know Chinese culture.
There are also different programs. There’s the Early College Program, a rigorous course where students will earn their high school diploma and take around 60 college units. Then, there’s the International Student Program. And finally, there’s the Career Technical Education program to give kids skills for their career paths.
They also have an aviation and space club; a choir, and Athletic teams like baseball, basketball, cheer, volleyball, and many more.
According to U.S. News & World Report, 23% of their students achieved proficiency in math, and 61% achieved proficiency in reading. They have a minority enrollment of 93.4%, of which 81.2% is Hispanic. So even though the school doesn’t teach Spanish, students can learn some Spanish skills by speaking with their Hispanic friends. They’re rated 4.3/5 on Facebook, 4.2/5 on GreatSchools, 3.5/5 on Niche, and 3.4/5 on Google.
Private Schools, Preschool, and After-School Programs for Spanish Learning
Foothill Oaks Academy
Foothill Oaks Academy has preschool, transitional kindergarten, and kindergarten to eighth grade academic levels.
They start teaching Spanish in elementary school. At that level they want the students to enrich their Spanish vocabulary with basic words and expressions. They teach things like greetings, animals, family members, shapes, descriptions and more. They also want the kids to start acquiring and improving their writing skills and Spanish grammar knowledge. And they teach conversational skills through immersion.
In the middle school Spanish lessons, they keep gaining conversation skills, grammar understanding, and vocabulary in Spanish. At this level professors also teach children about Spanish culture. At this point they want kids to understand Spanish in its written and spoken forms.
In order to be accepted there will be an interview and evaluation. If you want more information about the enrollment process, check their how to apply page.
The school is rated 5/5 on Facebook, 4.6/5 on GreatSchools, 5/5 on Niche, and 4.1/5 on Google. Here’s a review from a Google user: “I highly recommend this great school. Small class size and my child is well taken care of. I don’t have to worry about him being bullied or learning undesirable behavior. The teachers are great and pay attention to their students.”
Monrovia Preschool
Though this is not exactly in Duarte, it is in Monrovia, California, which is very near Duarte, just about a 2-mile drive. So, if you’re looking for another school around Duarte, or maybe even work in Monrovia, this is a good choice to leave and pick up your kids after and before school.
Monrovia Preschool has toddler, preschool, and transitional kindergarten programs. Their Spanish lessons begin in the 3-year-old preschool classes. They teach in both English and Spanish. They have a dual emergent program, in which they teach through music, worksheets and other fun activities. The Spanish lessons with the dual emergent program continue in the transitional kindergarten.
It is rated 3.5/5 on Yelp, and 5/5 on Google.
TruFluency Kids Spanish Immersion Program
One of the most important things for kids that are learning Spanish is to do it while having fun. Here at TruFluency Kids we have Spanish lessons full of joyful moments. Since it’s a Spanish immersion program, we teach through songs, storytelling, games, crafting, and even cooking. So kids will enjoy and learn at the same time.
Our native teachers make sure that classes are instructed in a 100% Spanish environment. This way your kids will learn useful vocabulary, idioms, and hear how they should pronounce the words. We also focus on Spanish fluency by making kids speak in every class. Always in a safe environment, so kids won’t feel bad if they make mistakes.
All of our classes are completely online with flexible schedules, so your children can take classes anywhere around the world. And if for any reason they miss a class, tell us and they can simply jump into another one to make it up.
Enroll your kids to study with us, and discover by yourself how much they’ll learn with our Spanish classes.