The Our Lady of Guadalupe teaches the same core curriculum that is taught in all Holy Family elementary schools (Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science) - except the instruction is in Spanish.

A primary goal of Our Lady of Guadalupe's immersion program is to provide the students enrolled with functional competence in the second language.

Students are encouraged from the beginning to use the second language for communicative purposes. Grammatical and structural errors are not given undue attention; the focus is on language as a means of communication rather than as a subject or matter of study.

The second language is developed through modeling, story telling, and vocabulary building in context, songs, poems and group interactions. The purpose of these activities is to give children enough knowledge of the second language to handle the contents of the curriculum. The program strongly believes that the best way for a student to learn a second language is through communicating as it naturally occurs in first language acquisition. In the process of acquiring a second language a learner will go through different stages. A learner can be at the preproduction stage, early speech, speech emergence or intermediate fluency stage.

Preproduction Stage Characteristics:

Silent period.
Can respond non-verbally ( pointing to an item/picture or person, performing an act; such as standing up or opening the door, gesturing or nodding )
Will be able to understand more than they can produce.
Early Speech Production:

Can understand more than can produce.
Can produce one or two words at a time.
Will pick up phrases using repetitive language patterns, for example, "¿Puedo ir al baño?" (May I go to the bathroom?).
Speech Emergence

Speaks in short phrases.
Makes lots of grammatical errors.
Interlanguage occurs (a mixture of vocabulary and structures from both languages).
Intermediate Fluency

Appear orally fluent. The student is able to use more complex statements, state opinions, speak at length, ask for clarification and share original thoughts.
Errors are same errors native speakers make.
Struggle with content area reading and writing.
Proficiency

Proficiency includes grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence.

Grammatical Competence

Mastery of language code:
.vocabulary
word formation rules
sentence formation rules
pronunciation rules
spelling
Sociolinguistic Competence

Mastery of appropriate language use in different contexts

how to speak to a friend
how to speak to someone in authority
how to speak to socially vs. professionally
Discourse Competence

Mastery of how to combine meaning and forms to create a text in different modes
Examples:

Telephone inquiry
Narrative text
Oral report
Strategic Competence
Mastery of verbal and non-verbal strategies for breakdowns in communication
Examples:

How to ask for help
How to replace a statement
How long does it take?

Basic Interpersonal Communication: 2 to 3 years ( ability to converse and understand every day discussions)
Cognitive Academic Language: 4 to 10 years ( ability to read, write, speak and listen at an academic level)
 
The following chart exemplifies typical classroom activities according to the stages of second language acquisition:
Stage 1 - Pre-production Activities:
listen
point
move
mimematch draw
select
choose
act/act out
circle 
Stage 2 - Early Speech Production Activities:
name
label
group
respond
discriminate  list
categorize
tell/say
answer 
Stage 3 - Speech Emergence Activities:
recall
retell
define
explain
compare contrast summarize
describe
role-play
restate
contrast
Stage 4 - Intermediate Fluency Activities:
Analyze
create
Defend
Debate
Predict  list
categorize
tell/say
answer
hypothesize

Standardized Test Scores
 
Our Lady of Guadalupe Iowa Test of Basic Skills

Each fall every student in grades 3 – 12 in the Holy Family Catholic School system take the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. These tests are given to provide the school with information we can use to meet the individual learning needs of each student. The tests are designed to help identify the areas of strength and areas in which growth is needed for the individual child. The data is also used to help make adjustments to the overall school program if results indicate a school-wide weakness. Additionally, the tests help us look at learning from one year to the next. Growth is measured from year to year in basic subject areas.

The data collected from ITBS indicate that the program is meeting the academic needs of the students in the program.  The students are scoring above the national and state averages in each of the tested areas. The data also indicates that the curriculum in the OLG  program is meeting the state standards which are tested by ITBS.

Click on the link below to view a PDF file of this year's ITBS test scores. Please feel free to call the OLG office if you have further questions.
 
High demand led the program to be expanded to two kindergarten sections in the 2006-07 school year. To ensure that their children were admitted, some parents lined up early on the first day registrations for 2006-07 were accepted.

In 2007, the program was again expanded, this time through the addition of two preschool programs, which will open during the 2007-08 school year. One preschool program will be a five-day bilingual class for pre-kindergarten students, with instruction in both English and Spanish. The second program will be a three-day immersion class, with instruction principally in Spanish, for four- and five-year-old children.

Middle school initiatives currently are being developed to continue the Spanish language development through the higher grade levels.