Seven years ago a neighbor asked Yuen Kwan and her husband if they’d considered Waltham’s K-5 Dual Language School when looking into kindergarten registration for their son. Kwan said the pair was unfamiliar with the school, but after speaking with DLS teachers at a district kindergarten registration night, she added her son’s name to the lottery.
He landed a spot at the school, starting there as a kindergartener in fall 2018.
Kwan’s son, a student in one of the school’s first graduating classes, now attends Kennedy Middle School. Kwan grew up bilingual in Cantonese and English, so a dual language education for her son, she said, felt normal — especially given the Spanish-speaking community in Waltham.
Kwan was not disappointed in the quality of his education. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2024 recognized DLS as a School of Recognition for its progress toward annual state accountability targets, emphasizing accomplishment in math and English language arts. It was the only school in the district to receive this distinction last year.
DLS Principal Ricardo Dobles credits the school’s success to the work of its staff and parents.
“We have a phenomenal staff and incredibly engaged parents, and it’s been a real pleasure and privilege to be here because of that,” he said.
A high demand for spots
When DLS started nine years ago, the school occupied a third-floor recreational space at 510 Moody St. Following the construction of the new Waltham High School in 2024, DLS moved into a section of WHS’s old building at 617 Lexington St.
DLS is smaller than other elementary schools in Waltham. During the 2024–2025 year the school made up just over 8% of total elementary school enrollment districtwide. For Kwan, however, its size allows for a tight-knit community of both educators and building staff as well as caregivers.
“Everyone pitches in, no matter what language you speak at home,” Kwan said. “It’s been a really really good experience for us.”
Dobles, a former principal at Whittemore Elementary, started as DLS principal in 2022. In his time in the position, Dobles said, the number of families applying for the kindergarten lottery has grown consistently every year. Last year more than 100 prospective families applied for 40 open spots, according to Dobles.
“That tells me that there’s definitely an interest in the community in what dual language has to offer,” Dobles said. “The parents are extremely supportive and extremely active in the school.”
Dobles added that for him, much of the school’s success is thanks to DLS educators, Dobles explained, start with an 80% Spanish, 20% English language instruction model for kindergarten students, half of whom are Spanish-dominant and half English-dominant. This model gives a strong literacy and numeracy base to Spanish-speaking students while providing English-speaking students with an immersive language experience.
After fifth grade, Dobles explained, students like Kwan’s son can continue with dual language education in the district as part of a strand of DLS students at Kennedy Middle School.
Two-way immersion
The goal of the model is for all students at DLS to have 50% Spanish and 50% English instruction by third grade, which, Dobles said, is supported by a staff of almost all bilingual educators.
Federica Ponce, a K-1 special education teacher at DLS, said the school is unique in its two-way immersion model, which allows both Spanish-dominant and English-dominant students to become biliterate and bicultural.
“We want to provide equitable experiences so that they learn a new language, but [also so] they don’t forget their own language,” Ponce said. “What you are doing is helping them sustain their multigenerational culture from their families by keeping their language.”
Ana María Chacon, a K-2 language teacher, said feedback from families has been positive. Language and culture exchanges both inside and outside the classroom has helped build connections between both Spanish- and English-speaking families, Chacon said.
“It helps people become more sensitive to others’ experiences in learning a different language and becoming a person in a different culture,” Chacon said.
Kwan agreed. The impact of both DLS and her son’s biliteracy has extended beyond the classroom for her family, she said.
“So many local businesses, our neighbors, classmates, they’re from Spanish families,” Kwan said. “It’s more than just the language, it’s the culture, the community, and it just makes us feel so much more connected, especially here in Waltham.”
Intense effort pays off
Like the rest of the district, DLS follows math and science curriculum and instruction standards set by DESE, as well as bilingual literacy curriculum aligned with Common Core Standards. Chacon and Ponce agreed that modifying instruction to accommodate two languages comes with challenges.
“We’re working twice as much,” Chacon said, “It takes a lot of organization, a lot of outside devotion and outside preparation.”
Ponce agreed with Chacon. Her responsibilities as an educator, she said, are in both Spanish and English.
“We’re doing everything in both languages, even messages to parents, we have to do it in both languages,” Ponce said. “The materials and resources out there, most of them are in English, so we need to accommodate and modify all those things to our program.”
Support from parents like Kwan, who served on the school’s parent-teacher organization as treasurer for almost three years, is key, according to Ponce. A member of the PTO’s leadership team, Ponce said the organization helps provide free events like field trips and multicultural nights for students and families through its fundraising efforts.
Additional support from the district’s administration is growing, according to Dobles. This year in particular, he said, the school was fortunate to gain a part-time English-as-a-second language teacher and a special educator.
In the future, Dobles said he hopes the school can add additional classes for each grade and eventually expand to cover grades six to eight as well.
Chacon echoed Dobles. “I think that the administration is realizing that the kids are improving and progressing so much and they are supporting us,” Chacon said.
Author
