✎ New page - draft for review. This page didn't exist on the old site; the wording is a starting point, not a final decision.
This is not a school with a Spanish class — this is school in Spanish. And the culture that comes with the language isn't a unit we cover in the spring. It's half the classroom, every single day.
What we mean by it
Every classroom here is a two-way immersion classroom: roughly half native English speakers, half native Spanish speakers, learning side by side. Both groups become bilingual and biliterate, and both learn early that a classmate's different home culture is a gift rather than a barrier. Instruction follows our graduated model — 90% Spanish from Pre-K through 1st grade, easing to 80/20 in 2nd and 70/30 in 3rd as that grade is added for 2027-28. You can see exactly how it works on our dual language model page.
The Spanish in our hallways is the real thing, because we hire native Spanish-speaking teachers. Our small staff carries roots and classroom experience across six countries — Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Spain, and the U.S., with hometowns as close as Franklin and Highlands — and every adult on staff is fluent in two or more languages. So kids don't just pick up the language; they pick up the lullabies, the idioms, and the traditions it lives in.
Bicultural doesn't mean either/or. We go all-in on Día del Niño — it grows into a whole Semana del Niño, with themed days, paletas, and a family movie night — and we stay just as connected to our Southern Appalachian home, from mountain field studies to the neighbors around us in Franklin. What we're after is respect that runs in both directions: children at ease in two cultures, and glad for both.
How it shows up day to day
Two-way, roughly 50/50
About half of each class speaks English at home and half speaks Spanish — so kids become each other's teachers.
Teachers who live the culture
Native Spanish-speaking teachers with roots across six countries, from Puerto Rico and Mexico to Venezuela and Spain.
Celebrations with roots
Día del Niño and Semana del Niño, honored right alongside the mountain traditions of Western North Carolina.
Why it matters to families
Our mission talks about raising up "community bridge builders" — kids who can stand comfortably in more than one world and connect the two. For English-speaking families, that means a child who is genuinely bilingual, not one who "took Spanish." For Spanish-speaking families, it means a school where your language and culture are treated as an asset to build on, never a hurdle to get over. Either way, your child grows up convinced that difference is something to respect and enjoy — a useful gift anywhere, and a rare one in a small mountain town.
Come hear both languages in one classroom.
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