HOUSTON, TX – It’s the first day of school for most Houston students, and while the kids seemed pretty clam inside classrooms, it was the “adults” who were throwing a hissy-fit outdoors one particular school. They’re protesting HISD’s new Arabic Language Immersion Magnet School, the first of its kind in the country.
Kindergarten and pre-k kids will spend half their day learning in English, and the other half learning Arabic. The group claims the school is anti-American. But inside the new school, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier defended the dual language curriculum, saying, “If every child that graduated from the Houston Independent School District could speak a second language proficiently, what an edge they would have in their world of tomorrow.”
And contrary to what many people believe, the school does not only cater to Arabic-speaking families. Principal Kate Adams says, “One of the things we’re very proud of, is how diverse our school is. We’ve often said we wanting this school to be a school for all Houston students, and it really is a school for all Houston kids. We also have almost equally the same number of African-Americans, Hispanic and Caucasian students, which really represents the diversity of Houston.” So on this first day in their educational careers, these children might have learned their toughest lesson.
