The Rochelle Elementary School District will see its first class of dual language program students graduate from Rochelle Middle School this month and move on to Rochelle Township High School this fall.

Those students were the first of the elementary district’s dual language program, starting off in kindergarten at Central Elementary School nine years ago. They will be part of the RTHS class of 2030. The elementary school district now offers dual language programming from kindergarten to eighth grade.

The 50-50, two-way dual language program sees students spend half of their time learning in English and half of their time learning in Spanish. Native English speakers learn Spanish and native Spanish speakers learn English. Native Spanish speakers qualify for bilingual programming based on a screening process before kindergarten and parents of native English speakers choose to opt their students into the program.

The elementary district transitioned to the dual language program from its traditional bilingual one-way model due to about 50% of students in the district being Hispanic.

“Of those students, a majority of them were emergent bilinguals, which we saw in screening,” Shared District Language Services Director Celeste Canfield said. “We wanted to give the opportunity to these students to still acquire their native language as well as the target language of English, and give that same opportunity to other students.”

Approximately 45 students from the dual language program will be freshmen at RTHS in the 2026-2027 school year. Between 80 and 100 students are in the dual language program in each grade in the elementary district right now.

Central School Principal Justin Adolph has been part of the program since its inception and said starting it was the most difficult part. The program has expanded and grown across the district as each year has gone by.

“It means a lot to reach this point,” Adolph said.”We had a really small team to start with. We’ve had a team at every single level carry the torch for us. What started as a cohesive and tight-knit group has really expanded. It’s been awesome because as those kids have moved up grades, our team has continued to expand as well.”

The program aims to see students earn the Seal of Biliteracy on their high school diplomas and have bilingual capabilities for their post-high school paths. Adolph and Canfield thanked staff, namely District Language & Culture Coordinator Kim Lumzy, for their work on the program over the past nine years.

The elementary district has used the model from the previous grade to build out the next grade’s curriculum as the program has moved along. Staff sought out materials that were relevant with authentic Spanish text. Cultural diversity, along with language, has been embraced in the program.

“Without our staff, we wouldn’t be able to continue to have this program,” Canfield said. “There were always questions about if it was going to be sustainable and if we could continue it year after year. And we have. That’s due to staff being so dedicated and wanting to advocate for our students and offer this type of programming.”

Dual language program students will continue the 50-50 model at RTHS and various classes will be taught in Spanish and English. Canfield said students in the program will have the same level of support at RTHS that they had while in the elementary district.

When dual language program students reached RMS and started to move to the class-period model, they began having classes taught in one language or the other throughout the day after switching over languages halfway through the day up until sixth grade.

“It was a lot of learning for them to know that they have the capacity to go between languages and it’s been really neat to see how they’re able to fluctuate going from class to class and still be able to make growth and acquire the languages,” Canfield said. “We’ve had some challenges as far as staffing goes, but we’ve been really creative with what we’ve done and intentional with the classes we’re able to offer and how we communicate with families.”

Adolph said the aspect of the program’s development he’s most excited about is how many students will be able to earn the Seal of Biliteracy. RTHS currently has a number of students earn the honor each year and Adolph expects that number to “skyrocket” starting in 2030. He’s excited to see how students utilize their bilingualism in their college and career paths.

“Biliterate graduates is a phrase we said a lot when we started the program,” Adolph said. “And we talked about the class of 2030, too. Starting in 2030 we’re going to have a wave of biliterate graduates. And we’re going to have biliterate graduates from RMS this month. That’s exciting. It’s been awesome to see the program progress through the years. What we envisioned 9-10 years ago is really coming to fruition. It’s how we hoped it would be.”

Canfield thanked past and present district leadership, families and the community for their support of the program.

“Sometimes it’s eye-opening to reflect on the many years of this program and the things we’ve overcome and the successes we’ve had,” Canfield said. “It’s something to celebrate.”