The philosophy of the Spanish language program is to help students communicate in the target language through oral, written, listening, and reading practice.   Students are also taught about the culture of the Spanish speaking world to see language in context and appreciate other world cultures. Students are encouraged to make connections with other disciplines, comparisons with their own language and use the language in the classroom and in the larger community.

In Grades Kindergarten through 5^th Grade, students develop the foundation to develop communicative competence in Spanish. They expand their vocabulary and are introduced to key grammar concepts. Students are assigned a country of interest in grades k-3 and different cultural aspects are studied. In grade 4, students look at holidays month to month throughout the Spanish speaking world. In 5^th grade, students look at the history of the Spanish language and its impact on today’s world.

In Grades 6^th through 8^th, students continue to develop their skills toward language acquisition but at a more advanced level. Students are introduced to the linguistic requirements needed to complete a beginning level high school course. They practice writing short essays, listening to dialogues and information presented in Spanish, and talking and reading about themes related to the course.   Students continue their cultural awareness by looking at specific topics relevant to Spanish speaking countries and studying the contributions of the Hispanic people and culture.