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Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) is celebrating a milestone for its Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program as the first cohort of students begin taking DLI classes at the college level thanks to a partnership with Indiana University South Bend (IUSB).
Crystal Kreider, DLI instructional coach, and Ana Manwaring, Warsaw Community High School DLI and IUSB instructor, shared about the milestone during Monday’s Warsaw School Board meeting. Now in its 11th year, the first cohort of DLI students are now sophomores at WCHS, according to a news release from WCS.
Last year, as freshmen, 45 DLI students completed the AP Spanish exam, which is typically taken in 11th or 12th grade. Thirty-eight earned a score of 3 or higher, qualifying for three to nine college credits based on their score. Three additional students passed the IUSB placement test. In all, 85% of the ninth-grade cohort met IUSB’s GPA requirements, resulting in 37 students beginning college-level Spanish coursework this year.
Through the partnership, students have the opportunity to earn up to 24 college credits in Spanish before graduating from WCHS. As sophomores, students are beginning with Spanish 311: Spanish Grammar and Spanish 313: Writing Spanish I. The planned progression includes additional writing, conversation and diction and Spanish culture courses. During senior year, WCS also plans to provide community-based internship opportunities where students can use and apply their Spanish skills in real-world settings.
“We are so excited to provide this opportunity to so many Warsaw Community Schools students and their families. The future is shining bright for these bilingual Learners thanks to the dedication of our DLI teachers and staff! We eagerly anticipate seeing how language will shape the future of these students as they approach graduation in just three short years,” said Kreider.
Dr. David Hoffert, superintendent of WCS, said, “Our DLI journey is now entering into the 11th year of existence. Each step and grade level addition has been exciting to see the continued growth and development of student language skills. These skills are a lifelong gift of being bilingual. We are very proud of this program and its continuation in the partnership with IUSB along with the great student success.”
Leesburg Elementary and Lakeview Middle School are expected to receive International Spanish Academy designation in December (joining Eisenhower Elementary who received this designation in 2024). In addition, student language proficiency data showed that DLI students meeting or exceeding average proficiency expectations across most grade levels and language domains.
Anyone interested in joining the Dual Language Immersion program as a student or staff member can visit https://www.warsawschools.org/DLI
