Language Policy

Nuestro Mundo strives to develop exceptional interpersonal communication and literacy abilities in both Spanish and English in an inclusive and compassionate school environment. Our program prepares students for success in an increasingly global economy, while promoting understanding and celebration of cultural differences and strengths. 

Nuestro Mundo Community School was created in 2004 through a grassroots effort involving teachers and members of the community who recognized the increasing number of Latino immigrants coming into the Madison, WI area, around the turn of the millennium. The founders of the school envisioned a learning environment where one’s language and culture was not viewed as something to be overcome, rather, they advocated for an approach that would honor and strengthen the home language and culture of immigrants from Mexico and Latin America. Further, the founders of the school wanted to preserve the fundamentals of integration and inclusivity. The program they would create would bring children of all racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds together to learn with each other and from each other. The result of their hard work and vision is a school that implements a school-wide 90/10 dual language program, serving the needs of students and families in Madison.
 

Nuestro Mundo serves a diverse student body. While all students are learning a second language, 48% are identified as English Learners through a home language survey and language assessment. The primary home languages of our students are Spanish and English. Various other languages are spoken in the homes of our students, such as Hmong, Norwegian and Tigrinya.

The Nuestro Mundo program considers Spanish to be our first language of instruction. All of our students are on the continuum of bilingualism, some learning English as a second or other language, others learning Spanish as a second or other language. Our admissions policy is built to ensure that roughly 50% of students in all classrooms can serve as English language models, while the other 50% can serve as Spanish language models. 

Nuestro Mundo has a highly trained staff from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds that include a variety of Spanish speaking countries: Spain, Mexico, countries in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. All classroom teachers and bilingual support teachers are either native speakers of Spanish or have spent time living in Spanish speaking countries. All teachers, regardless of their level of bilingualism, are teachers of language. 

The language allocation model detailed below privileges the target language of Spanish in the primary grades allowing our Spanish dominant students to learn important content and literacy skills in their first language. This also provides a strong foundation in Spanish for all students.

The dual language model fulfills the requirements of all state and federal laws regulating the educational experience for students labeled as English Learners. All teaching staff hold Bilingual and ESL Certification from the state of Wisconsin. 

Teachers use culturally and linguistically responsive methods such as: Comprehensible Input Strategies, Accountable Talk, Structured Academic Discussion Protocols, and other evidence-based practices from ESL and Bilingual Education pedagogy. All students at Nuestro Mundo are language learners. Whole group instruction and small group instruction is planned with language learning objectives. Students at Nuestro Mundo encounter instruction that provides windows to experiences different from their own and mirrors that reflect their own lives, cultures, languages, and interests. 

Students engage with phonics in both English and Spanish in a cohesive way that spans the grade levels and draws out distinctions and similarities between the two languages and reflects the 90/10 language allocation.

To provide support for students who are not yet proficient in Spanish or English (the languages of instruction), texts are available in the library in students’ home languages. Interlibrary loans within the district provide ample access to texts in a variety of languages including Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, Hindu, Pashto, and Hmong. 

Bilingual Resource Specialists (BRS) are multilingual staff who provide students and families with native language and cultural support. They also support schools with interpretation and translation needs.  
Our district has BRS who speak the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandinka, Nepali, Pashto, Spanish, Telugu and Wolof.

Our Library Media Center has ample physical and virtual resources in both English and Spanish, including books in English, Spanish, and bilingual texts. Our library also provides students access to children’s literature in additional languages to support our students’ development in their mother tongue. Additionally, we have access to online databases, most of which offer resources in Spanish and English.

Language Assessments

• ACCESS for ELs
• Performance Assessments that include WIDA Language Objectives
• Achieve3000 Levelset Spanish
• AAPPL

Nuestro Mundo Position Statement on Inclusive Language
 

WIDA ELD Standards
WIDA Marco Dale
WIDA Spanish Language Development Standards

In addition to supporting our students as language learners, we also support families with language support. Evening English classes for adults are provided at Nuestro Mundo on an ongoing basis. 

Our Bilingual Resource Specialist supports families in completing district forms and navigating district resources in Spanish. She is in close contact with our families and she provides a strong connection between families and the school. 

Communication with families is provided in Spanish, English, and Hmong.