CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — "All my lessons that I prepare for my students are in English and Spanish" said T.G. Allen Elementary School Bilingual teacher Imelda Buitron.
That's thanks to the Transitional Bilingual program at CCISD, which helps bridge the language barrier betweens students and teachers.
"In Texas, when a school district has 20 or more students speaking the same language in the same grade level, we are required to provide a bilingual teacher for that grade level" said T.G. Allen Elementary School Principal Celeste Fernandez.
And at Allen Elementary, they have a bilingual teacher for every grade level from Pre K-fifth grade.
"I welcome our students in not knowing any English," Buitron said. "Make them feel as comfortable as they can."
Once those students do become more at ease, they form small groups to be able to help one another.
"I have monolinguals and I have bilinguals," she said. "So the bilingual students have, already, the English background."
She said the greatest benefit of the program, for her students, is the connections that follow.
"And I think that's the Number 1 key, is building their self-confidence to where 'Yes, I can do this, and yes, the progress will be there,' " she said. "It might be gradual, but the progress will be there."
There are almost 100 emergent bilingual students at T.G. Allen Elementary, and some of those kids were brought in from another campus.
"Last year, we merged campuses with Evans Elementary," Rodriguez said. "They brought in 25 students, so now we have a total of 75 students."
Although the program has the children in mind, parents and staff also reap some of the benefits.
"Being able to make some of those connections allows for us to have a increase in parental involvement," Rodriguez said. "Because they're able to come to a place where people understand them and know where they come from."