Gilpin Campus 5-8

Gilpin Campus 5th to 8th Grade

Click here to read why language immersion is critical in the middle school years.

Designed to deepen language proficiency and cultural understanding, our immersion program at our Gilpin Campus prepares students for academic success and global citizenship. Our 5th to 8th grade campus focuses on inquiry/project-based learning and has a purposeful emphasis on vocabulary and social use of the target language.

Any student transfering into DLS from another school must meet target language grade level requirements and pass a language proficiency assessment.

Starting in the 2025-26 school year DLS is thrilled to announce the launch of our French Immersion Middle School Program! Expanding our commitment to bilingual education, this program will serve students in grades 6-8 (grades 6 & 7 for school year 25-26, and 6-8 starting in school year 26-27), offering a rigorous curriculum taught 50/50 in French and English, and mirroring our current Spanish and Chinese programs.

5th Grade

  • 80% target language (Mandarin or Spanish)

  • 20% English during English language arts and daily specials rotation.

  • Students rotate between five specials: art, music, physical education, library, and global citizenship.

6th to 8th Grade

DLS is a 50/50 language immersion model during 6th-8th grade.  This means that 50% of the instructional day is taught in the target language (Mandarin, French or Spanish), and 50% of the instructional day is taught in English. 

Target Language Instruction (Mandarin, French or Spanish):

  • Language Arts

  • Mathematics

  • Social Studies

English Language Instruction:

  • English Language Arts

  • Science

  • Specials Rotation (6th grade): art, music, physical education, and introduction to Model United Nations.

  • Electives (7th and 8th grade)

AP Exam

Before continuing from DLS, 8th grade students are eligible to take the AP Exam. In the 2024-25 School Year 93.1% of our Mandarin students and 97.9% of our Spanish students passed the AP exam with a 3 or above.

For questions about Middle School (Gilpin Campus, grades 5-8) at DLS, please contact:

Principal: Christine Loven-Santos - christine@denverlanguageschool.org

Assistant Principal - Kendra Lofland - kendra@denverlanguageschool.org