A southwest-side school is the first in the Santa Fe, New Mexico district to have its kindergarten students take classes in both English and Spanish. The move is El Camino Real Academy’s first step toward becoming a magnet school with the goal of teaching only dual-language courses.

The school’s foray into a full dual-language curriculum comes at a time when more educational institutions locally and nationally are adopting such programs. Edward Tabet-Cubero, vice president of the nonprofit Dual Language Education of New Mexico, said the state had about 117 dual-language programs last year. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly a quarter of New Mexico’s 2 million residents in 2013 spoke Spanish at home.

A dual-language program does not simply teach students English and wean them off their native language, said David Call, the school’s dual-language coordinator. The goal is to fully immerse students in both languages, which means educators teach subjects such as science or math in both English and Spanish. The effort involves mixing a student population of Spanish and English speakers, and it requires bilingual teachers, which can present challenges.

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