Language coordinator Nicole Puig assists Elias Gardeen with making a rolling “r” sound Friday, March 22, 2019 at All Nations Community School in The Woodlands.

“More and more people in the United States are recognizing that language is so important,” Puig said. “Parents with younger kids don’t automatically accept that English only is going to be OK for their child.”

With students in grades kindergarten through seventh grade, the private international school is focused on families who are interested in exposing their children to a variety of cultures and languages. The school opened last August with 14 students and rent their school building from Congregation Beth Shalom of The Woodlands along Shadowbend Place.

“All students at all grade levels have Spanish every day as a class, just like they have math or science,” Puig said.

The school started out with songs, games and role-playing activities to introduce the language to the younger children, many of whom are beginners, and have incorporated more reading and spelling lessons as the year has gone on. The older group of children, which includes more advanced speakers, are taught Spanish in the context of other subject areas like language arts or social studies.

Read more: Houston Chronicle