In the lead up to the 2026-27 school year, Kent School District (KSD), in partnership with the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), held the very first Spanish Academy, or “Academia,” for the Southwest region of Washington. Held at Mill Creek Middle School, this unique professional learning day was open to any dual language educator and conducted entirely in Spanish. Over 70 participants attended, including those belonging to other districts, from Mount Vernon to Vancouver.

Sessions covered fundamental skills for bilingual education, creating a student-centered classroom, designing language objectives, and other topics. During lunch, students from Scenic Hill Elementary School honored attendees with a cultural dance. Dr. Kristin Percy Calaff, Director of Multilingual Education for OSPI, served keynote speaker for the event.

“Teachers were so enthusiastic that our packed session at the end of the day on a Friday ended late because no one wanted to leave,” said Percy Calaff. “We are looking forward to having Kent host a dual language school visit this year and appreciate the sponsorship of collaboration that is vital to our state’s continued expansion of dual language opportunities for all students.”

The KSD Dual Language (DL) program employs a 50/50, two-way language model to educate students in both English and Spanish. Over 700 students from grades K-12 participate in the program across four KSD schools, including Neely-O’Brien Elementary School, Scenic Hill Elementary School, Mill Creek Middle School, and Kent-Meridian High School. The program is designed to develop high academic linguistic proficiency and help prepare students for a life in a globally competitive economy by promoting bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism. It serves students who speak Spanish as their home language as well as those from other language backgrounds.