DLS will teach the core curriculum in one of the target languages from kindergarten through second grade. DLS will offer target language instruction in Spanish or Mandarin; families will indicate their preference for a target language. Students will also receive instruction outside their core subject learning time in the English arts; specific attention will be paid to student progress on English language skills. From second through fifth grade, students will receive up to 90 percent of their instruction in the target language and steadily more in English-though never more than 30 percent of the core instructional day will be in English.
The primary difference between the various methods of teaching language immersion is the amount of instruction in the target language. DLS believes that total immersion - offering traditional learning activities only in a target language, making the language both the medium of instruction and the object of instruction - is the most successful for high student achievement.