BALDWIN PARK – Baldwin Park Unified School District has received the prestigious Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy Award from Californians Together, a coalition of 25 parent, professional and civil rights groups that advocates for equal access to quality education.
The District is one of just two honored across the state for offering broad access to language programs in preschool, elementary school, junior high and high school.
"The vision of the Baldwin Park Unified School District is to ensure that students are prepared for college and careers in our global economy,” Superintendent Froilan N. Mendoza said. “We understand that students will require multilingual and multicultural competencies that are critical in our diverse global society. I am proud of our District, Board of Education, staff, and community for embracing programs that build the foundation of success for our students.”
The District’s program features world language courses in Spanish, Mandarin and French, high school Chicano studies courses, study trips into Los Angeles to explore cultural components of language and a summer leadership program.
Baldwin Park is also home to one of California’s premier Spanish/English dual-language immersion program, anchored at Walnut Park Elementary. The immersion program received the 2016 Seal of Excellence award from the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE). Baldwin Park also offers the program at several other elementary schools, middle schools and Baldwin Park High School. In 2016-17, it will expand to Sierra Vista High School.
"We hope to inspire the development of strong dual-language programs, multiple opportunities and comprehensive pathways enabling all students to reach the goal of high levels of proficiency in two or more languages," said Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez, president of Californians Together.