Students have different needs and King Elementary offers choices to meet those needs.

• King School was one of two schools in Santa Ana that participated in an implementation grant in 1996.  This grant allowed King school to commence the Dual program with the vision of fully integrating students in the same educational environment and to provide communicative and academic language development through an interactive cross-cultural setting.

• The Dual program has always been offered as a choice program for parents who see the value in learning two languages.  Parents of English learners are informed of the Parental Exception Waiver procedures needed in order for their children to participate in the Dual program.

• The educational goal for students in Kindergarten through third grade who participate in the Dual program is to provide them with a strong foundation in Spanish, thus enabling students to have the mental flexibility to transfer these skills to English in the upper grades. The educational goal for students in fourth and fifth grade is to maintain and foster the Spanish skills attained in the primary grades through systematically and strategically teaching Social Studies, Spanish Literature and Grammar during the Spanish Language Arts time.

• Involvement and participation of parents has been instrumental in the success of the Dual program. Partnerships between the school personnel and parents have created a culture of high expectations. Parents know and understand that they are equal partners in ensuring that their children have a successful and productive educational experience.

• The Dual program has continuously been monitored through various informal and formal methods.  Using quantitative and qualitative statistical methods, program evaluators have disaggregated data from state and standards based assessments, district based assessments, and observational data to measure academic progress and program effectiveness.

• A high percentage of students in the Dual program develop cognitive skills needed to perform at advanced academic levels. The methodology behind the cognitive planning and teaching of the program results in accomplishing the goal of closing the Achievement gap for Latino students.

• In 2010, King School became a California Distinguished School and the Dual program was one of our signature practices responsible for our success.
• Our students truly have an extraordinary opportunity to attain the necessary skills and educational experiences to become productive and involved leaders of this nation.