Hola AND Hello!

It’s back to school season in Central, New York! School buses are filling the streets, a slight breeze wrestles the trees and kids with backpacks line the sidewalks. Summer has winded down and kids of all ages have started their next year at school. 

School bus photo, Unsplash accessed through SquareSpace.

For some kids in Syracuse, they’ve started their school year saying “Hello,” in multiple languages. 

At the Seymour Dual Language Academy on Shonnard Street, their kindergarten through sixth grade students are receiving a bilingual education in Spanish and English. The school describes its mission, in two different languages on its website, as developing students who are biliterate, bilingual and multicultural. 

These students will be able to read, write and speak in Spanish by the time they move on to middle school. 

Elementary aged kids raising their hands in the classroom, Unsplash accessed through SquareSpace.

Benefits of being bilingual

Besides being able to play “hide and seek” in two different languages on the playground, there are a variety of long term benefits of a bilingual education. 

Having a strong cognitive development, promoting levels of abstract thought and having the ability to connect with a wider group of people, are all long-term benefits of being bilingual, according to the U.S. Department of Education. 

Being bilingual has a space in Central New York, even anywhere

In Onondaga County, being fluent in Spanish provides opportunities for connection with neighbors and friends. Outside of English, Spanish is the top language spoken at home for people with a limited English proficiency in Ondodaga County. There are nearly 4,000 families speaking Spanish at home, according to the New York State Office of General Services. 

There’s power in being able to speak two languages and connect with a wider group of people. The kids at the Seymour Dual Language Academy are just getting started!