Spanish-English Bilingual School in Oakland, CA

Escuela Bilingüe Internacional, Oakland:
Escuela Bilingüe Internacional is an international private school which offers a Spanish-English dual language educational program from its' base in Oakland, California. Our programs extend from Pre-Kinder through fourth grade, with plans to extend through 8th grade as the current students grow. Students at EBI will become fully literate in Spanish and English, and will develop conversational skills in a third language.

Bi-lingual Spanish-English Education from Pre-K through to 8th Grade:
EBI is authorized to implement the International Baccalaureate for The Primary Years Program —for students from Pre-Kinder to Grade 5. We plan to continue this wonderful educational opportunity to include The Middle Years Program —for students in Grades 6 to 8, in the near future.  Here's a more detailed description of what these programs offer.

The Primary Years Program
This is for students from pre-kindergarten through to Grade 5 and the EBI is fully authorized by the International Baccalaueate to implement this program. The Primary Years Programme is a comprehensive inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning, encouraging teachers to teach for a depth of understanding, and enabling students to become independent and lifelong learners. Inquiry begins with these transdisciplinary themes:

- Who we are
- Where we are in place and time
- How we express ourselves
- How the world works
- How we organize ourselves
- Sharing the planet

Using structured inquiry based on these themes, the PYP gives children a strong foundation in languages, social studies, mathematics, arts, science and technology, physical education, and personal and social education. The themes include and transcend subject areas and are used to classify knowledge about the world.

Units of Inquiry
PYP students explore the transdisciplinary themes each year through Units of Inquiry designed to ensure that knowledge, concepts, and skills are developed in sequence. Students become familiar with the structure of questioning, later using this method to answer their own independent questions. The units of inquiry also frame the development of attitudes and the choice of appropriate action on the part of the students.

Skills
The acquisition of transdisciplinary skills — those tools needed to acquire, organize, and communicate knowledge — is essential in making students independent learners, capable of pursuing knowledge beyond the classroom. We work systematically to develop and practice skills through the PYP years, each year providing a foundation on which the next year can build.

- Research Skills: Students learn how to formulate questions; collect, organize, and interpret data; and present research findings.
- Thinking Skills: Through the inquiry method, students learn to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the knowledge they have acquired.
- Social Skills: Students learn to accept responsibility, respect others, and resolve conflicts.
- Communication skills: Rich and extensive language learning challenges students to become world citizens. Fluency in more than one language opens not only greater possibilities of communication but also greater understanding of other cultures. Students read from a variety of sources, recording and presenting their findings using appropriate technology for effective presentation and representation.
- Self - Management Skills: Students work on time-management, organization, safety, good behavior, informed choices, and a healthy lifestyle.

The Middle Years Program
The MYP, for students from 6th Grade to 8th Grade, provides a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and become critical and reflective thinkers.  EBI plans to introduce the implementation of the International Baccalaureate for this program in the near future.

The programme:
- Encourages international-mindedness in IB students, starting with a foundation in their own language and culture
- Encourages a positive attitude to learning by challenging students to solve problems, show creativity and resourcefulness and participate actively in their communities.
- Reflects real life by providing a framework that allows students to see the connections among the subjects themselves, and between the subjects and real issues.
- Supports the development of communication skills to encourage inquiry, understanding, language acquisition, and to allow student reflection and expression
- Emphasizes, through the learner profile, the development of the whole student–physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically

Assessment
Assessment is criterion-related, so students around the world are measured against pre-specified criteria for each subject group. Teachers may modify these criteria to be age-appropriate in the earlier years of the programme.
Teachers set assessment tasks that are assessed internally in the school. External checks (either moderation or monitoring of assessment by IB examiners) are carried out on this internal assessment to ensure worldwide consistency of standards. For schools that require official IB certification for their students, moderation is carried out every year.

Five Areas of interaction:
1) Community and service starts in the classroom and extends beyond it, requiring students to participate in the communities in which they live. The emphasis is on developing community awareness and concern, a sense of responsibility, and the skills and attitudes needed to make an effective contribution to society.

2) Human ingenuity allows students to focus on the evolution, processes and products of human creativity. It considers their impact on society and on the mind. Students learn to appreciate the human capacity to influence, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. This area of interaction encourages students to explore the relationships between science, aesthetics, technology and ethics.

3) Environments aims to make students aware of their interdependence with the environment so that they become aware of their responsibility, and may take positive, responsible action for maintaining an environment fit for the future.

4)  Health and social education prepares students for a physically and mentally healthy life, aware of potential hazards and able to make informed choices. It develops in students a sense of responsibility for their own well-being and for the physical and social environments.

5) Approaches to learning is concerned with developing the intellectual discipline, attitudes, strategies and skills that will result in critical, coherent and independent thought and the capacity for problem solving and decision-making.