Two-year-old Sophia Coel is bilingual. Her mother says about half of the words she uses are English, and the other half are Spanish. There would be nothing remarkable in this – if either of her parents spoke Spanish.
But neither of Sophia’s parents is bilingual. Sophia picked up her language skills at Jardín de Niños Interlingua (JDNI), a Spanish immersion day school. Sophia’s mother, Carina Coel, says having a bilingual child wasn’t a particular goal of hers, but she and her husband were deeply impressed by the program at JDNI.
“They have a curriculum, even for the 1-year-olds,” Coel says. “They’re always working with the kids to engage them. I don’t feel like she’s just sitting there with a bunch of kids, trying not to be bored.” Adriana Rodriguez founded JDNI in 2007. The school has a north and a south campus, and it incorporates a daycare for infants, as well as a pre-school and elementary school. Beginning in daycare, children are constantly surrounded by Spanish. “They way we teach language isn’t just language,” Rodriguez says. “When they reach the kindergarten level, they are able to read and write in Spanish – and English, of course.” In the daycare, students are read and sung to solely in Spanish. Once in elementary school, students are taught all of their subjects – including math and social studies – in an even split between Spanish and English, with an additional weekly hour of French and Mandarin studies.
“We prepare our students to be citizens of the world, not just Austin,” Rodriguez says. Rodriguez was born in Mexico. She earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood development from Santa Teresa de Jesus College La Florida and her master’s in child development from the National Pedagogical University. She says teaching in both Mexico and the United States helped her to see the best and worst of each educational system – which in turn has helped her create what she believes is the best possible program for children.
“I put together the good things from each to shape this concept and make it unique,” she says. “We go by a balanced curriculum to meet the needs of all the children.” Rodriguez says learning a second language is important for all children because it helps them to know more about the world around them. She supports immersion learning because it encourages students to truly become fluent in a second language. The teachers – most of who are native Spanish speakers – not only introduce Spanish in all educational units, but they also encourage students to use their Spanish in normal conversation. This in turn encourages students to help each other, which Rodriguez says helps them learn the language better. “We have to hit all different avenues of teaching,” she says. “It’s not just visual, and that helps students to learn the language in different ways.”
Rodriguez’s efforts have not gone without notice. JDNI has won the Austin Award for best day school for the last three years, and in March 2010, Rodriquez was named businesswoman of the year by the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Rodriguez says she is humbled by the recognition, but attributes it to the quality that is inherent in hard work. She regularly travels to different countries to stay up-to-date on educational technologies, and is dedicated to ensuring that her school will one day be accredited both by International Baccalaureate and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In fact, when Rodriguez first opened her school, she had to make many sacrifices – including spending time with her own two children. “I started with 20 students in 2007,” she says. “It was really hard financially. You have to be the cleaning lady, the receptionist and the director.”
She could not afford a professional marketing campaign, so she had to rely solely on announcements on her website to get the word out. But Rodriguez said her children and husband were very supportive throughout the process. Her children even helped and offered their opinions about the school. Rodriguez says the sacrifices were worth it because the school is important on a variety of levels. “Being a businesswoman, it makes me feel like I am contributing to my country – to help grow our city,” she says. “We generate more scholars – more employment – and that’s important in this time.”
Rodriguez also believes her school is helping create students that will one day be influential in their world – an idea she got from her father, who is also an educator and her role model. “He says we couldn’t have good citizens if we don’t start from scratch with early education,” she says. Ultimately, Rodriguez says she would like to see the school expand to include more grade levels – a concept that is in high demand from parents – and to open campuses outside of the Austin area. More immediately, she is introducing a parent-child Spanish music class one morning a week to better foster the already close-knit feeling of community at the school.
She understands that it will take a lot of work, but says she is ready. “It’s my passion,” Rodriguez says. “I do it with my heart.”
For more information about JDNI, visit austinbilingualschool.com. You may also call the south campus at 512-299-5731 or the north campus at 512-299-5732.
