Language Immersion School in Brooklyn Adds Middle School

The International School of Brooklyn, a French and Spanish language immersion school located in Carroll Gardens, is adding a middle school program starting in the 2012-2013 academic year. All students are required to study two languages, which are continued from the elementary school.

Students (left to right: Maximiliam, Isabella, Ela-Ray, Thea,
Emerson, Maxe) read the school's students' constitution.

The International School of Brooklyn, a French and Spanish language immersion school, is adding a middle school program for the 2012-2013 academic year. They are building the program one year at a time, starting with the sixth grade, says Carlos Martinez, middle school director.

“It is what we can handle, and that way we can make sure everything goes in the right direction in terms of language development,” Martinez says.

The middle school’s curriculum has three tracks: Spanish, French, and English.

The foreign language tracks will be a continuum of the elementary school tracks, where classes are taught in both French and English or Spanish and English. The English track is unique to the middle school and teaches all classes in English except language classes, Martinez says. All students enrolled in the middle school are required to study two languages. Students on the Spanish or French tracks will study the language they are not proficient in and students on the English track will study both Spanish and French. Martinez says the language programs and international curricula are what make the International School of Brooklyn unique. 

“We focus on the student as a whole—their social, physical, and educational development,” Martinez says.

Their international curriculum consists of two languages, humanities, sciences, mathematics, arts, physical education, and technology and follows the International Baccalaureate program.