Three years ago, the Superintendent of the State of Georgia, Dr. John Barge, launched an initiative to foster immersion programs in public elementary schools. Among the first schools that applied was Ashford Park Elementary School, because they wanted the first German immersion program in Georgia.
This idea was realized thanks to the German American Cultural Foundation (GACF). The GACF’s funding helped develop the EnVision Math texts which are now available to kindergarten classes. The first grade text has been translated and should arrive shortly.
The German immersion kindergarten at Ashford Park Elementary School has grown 42% this year; the first grade immersion class is 27% larger than the previous year. The immersion program now has four classes with a total of 97 children. Ashford Park has also hired an additional teacher who gives German instruction to students who are not currently in the immersion classes. German is heard in the halls of Ashford Park more and more!
The idea of teaching young children in a foreign language immersion program has spread. Next school year two more German programs open in Georgia.
This school year, an elementary school in Lexington, SC started the first immersion program in South Carolina. They also use the EnVision books for math lessons. It is clear that the efforts of the GACF have had enormous impact across the borders of Georgia and this will surely continue in upcoming years.