Evansdale Receiving Language Immersion Grant

Three DeKalb County schools will receive more than $600,000 in Language Immersion Grants, and Evansdale Elementary in the Tucker area is one of them.

A 2003 study by the College Board found that students who study a second language for four or more years score higher - by as much as 100 points per section - than their peers on the SATs, according to a press release.

The grants, provided by the Georgia Department of Education, mean that the DeKalb County School District will have the first German and French immersion programs in the state.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to bolster learning in DeKalb, and we are incredibly grateful to have been selected,” said Interim Superintendent Michael Thurmond. “In addition to the advanced cognitive abilities they'll develop, these dual-immersion programs will help our children graduate with the kinds of skills that get them noticed by potential employers.”

Students at the three schools - the others are Rockbridge and Ashford Park - will begin their language study in kindergarten using a 50/50 immersion model. Training for teachers and staff will take place for a week in July in Augusta. The grant is comprised of $15,000 per school for professional development and to offset costs of textbooks and materials and $590,000 of in-kind services for the district.