by Katherine McElhenny
Have you ever wondered about the foreign language offerings at your local elementary school? Or how your school compares to others in the district?
No? Neither had I until recently.
Our family was out at a restaurant when we ran into a friend whose daughter had attended nursery school with my daughter. Immediately, the two kindergartners began comparing their schools. Our friend was proud of her brand new uniforms and Chinese classes. My daughter boasted of her Russian classes.
The parents were taken aback.
Chinese? Russian? Who knew? What was offered elsewhere? My curiosity was piqued.
A compilation of the district’s foreign language offerings was nowhere to be found on the PGCPS website. Instead, the chart below was cobbled together from emails and calls to the World Language Office along with teachers and staff at individual schools.
Is your elementary school one of over one hundred that is not listed? According to PGCPS, those students do not receive any foreign language instruction.
| Elementary School | Grades | Language | Frequency | Additional Information |
| Ardmore | K, 1st | Chinese | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | Intro to Chinese 6th grade |
| Barack Obama | K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | Spanish | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School) K-5 |
| Berwyn Heights | K, 1st | Chinese | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | Intro to Chinese 6th grade |
| Capitol Heights | K-5 | Spanish | Math 45 minutes, 5 times a week Science 45 minutes, 5 times a week |
STEM classes in Spanish |
| Fort Foote | K, 1st | Italian | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | As scheduling permits 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade |
| Greenbelt | K, 1st | Russian | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | As scheduling permits 2nd grade, Greenbelt MS will be feeder for Russian by 2019-2020
|
| Magnolia | K- 5th | Spanish | 30-45 minutes, 5 times a week | Magnolia |
| Melwood | K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | Spanish | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | FLES K-5 |
| Montpelier | K, 1 | Spanish | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | As scheduling permits 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade |
| Paint Branch
|
K | Chinese | Math 70-80 minutes, 5 days a week Science 35-45 minutes, 5 days a week |
|
| 1st | Chinese | Math 50-60 minutes, 5 days a week Science 70 or 30 minutes, 2 or 3 days a week |
||
| 2-4 | Chinese | 45 minutes, 5 days a week | ||
| 5, 6 | Chinese | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | ||
| Patuxent | K, 1 | Spanish | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | As scheduling permits 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade |
| Rosaryville | K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | Spanish | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | FLES K-5 |
| University Park | K, 1st | Italian | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | As scheduling permits 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade |
|
Charters, Immersions, Talented and Gifted (TAG) |
||||
| Dora Kennedy French Immersion |
6th-8th grades | Russian | 65 minutes, every other day | World Language class (Intro-Level 2- these are part of the World Language Sequencing) |
| John Hanson Montessori | preK-5th | Spanish | 40-50 minutes, 1 day a week | |
| Judith P. Hoyer, Montessori | K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | Spanish | 30 minutes, 5 days a week | FLES K-5 |
| Maya Angelou French Immersion | 6th -8th grades | Italian | 65 minutes, every other day | World Language class (Intro-Level 2- these are part of the World Language Sequencing) |
| Robert Goddard Montessori | preK – 5th | Spanish | 45 minutes, 1 day a week | *as of 2015/16 only. Frequency varies year to year based on number of creative art teachers |
| 8 TAG:
Accokeek, Capitol Heights, Glenarden Woods, Heather Hills, Highland Park, Longfields, Mattaponi, Valley View |
Grade 2 | French, Japanese | 30-45 minutes, 2 times a week | ICAL (International Culture and Language Program) is designed to introduce students to various languages and cultures, especially Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Russian, and Japanese languages and cultures. In addition, the history and development of languages are also studied and English/Reading skills are reinforced as part of the total course. |
| Grade 3 | Italian, Chinese | 30-45 minutes, 1 time a week | ||
| Grade 4 | Spanish, Russian | 30-45 minutes, 1 time a week | ||
| Grade 5 | Spanish, French, Japanese | 30-45 minutes, 2-3 times a week | ||
| Grade 6 | Introduction to Spanish or French | 30-45 minutes, 5 times a week | ||
For more information on PGCPS Middle and High School World Language offerings, visit the World Languages Office page.
Prince George's County Advocates for Better Schools 
TAG Programs have been good about offering languages, but their approach has been just to give kids a sampling of lots of languages, not concentrate on any. So the kids never get mastery of a language.
All elementary and preschools need to offer one language (or a choice of two) and let the kids become fluent in it. Kids are primed to learn languages when they are young, but we wait too long to start teaching languages.
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