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Board approves expansion of Scott Lane dual-language program into Bookser Middle School
Summary
The board voted unanimously to expand Santa Clara Unified's existing Spanish dual-language immersion (DLI) program into Bookser Middle School beginning with one 6th-grade class next year and phasing to grades 7–8. District leaders said the move creates a TK–12 pathway and asked staff to finalize staffing, materials and family outreach.
The Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved an expansion of the district’s Spanish dual-language immersion program to Bookser Middle School, beginning with a 6th-grade cohort next school year and phasing to 7th and 8th grades over subsequent years.
Why it matters: The decision supports continuity for students who began Scott Lane’s DLI program in elementary grades and creates a middle‑school pathway aimed at preserving students’ bilingual and biliteracy gains. District officials said research shows students in well-implemented dual-language programs often have higher academic outcomes and stronger bilingual competencies than similar peers in English-only programs.
Program details: Chief Academic and Innovation Officer (Mr.) Stam and Scott Lane and Bookser staff described a phased implementation. The DLI model used at Scott Lane is a 90:10 model in the earliest grades that shifts toward 50:50 in upper elementary and then to two of four academic periods in Spanish at the middle-school level. Bookser will start with one 6th‑grade DLI class (the initial cohort of 17 students came from Scott Lane) and grow to two classes per grade in later years; at full strength staff estimate approximately 100 DLI students at Bookser.
Staffing and space: Bookser already has teachers interested in bilingual assignments and school leaders said classrooms are available for the two Spanish-instruction periods required by the model. District staff noted teachers will need bilingual authorizations (BCLAD or equivalent) and that materials, assessments and professional development will be secured as the program expands.
Board action: The board approved the expansion 7–0. Trustees asked staff to continue planning on staffing, procurement of materials and ongoing family engagement and to bring back implementation details as the program grows.
Voices from Scott Lane: Students and parents attended the meeting to urge continuation of the DLI pathway into middle school; several Scott Lane students spoke on how DLI helped them learn Spanish and stay connected to family language. Bookser staff said they support the program and that DLI students would be integrated with other Bookser students for non‑DLI classes, not isolated.
Next steps: With board approval staff will hire or assign bilingual-certified teachers, purchase Spanish-language program materials and assessments, and develop a family engagement plan. The district plans to phase classes and staffing across two to three years as enrollment grows.
