This past Monday, September 24th, was the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is celebrated during the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar and is most notably celebrated by Chinese or Vietnamese peoples. The Moon Festival has a rich history spanning all the way back to the Shang dynasty, but today it is seen as an opportunity to gather among friends, eat mooncakes (a rich pasty), and promote unity and harmony among each other.

One of our TWIN-CS Network schools, All Souls, took the themes of harmony and unity to heart by celebrating  the day. With the help of the junior high students, the teachers explained the myth of the moon festival with shadow puppets and the fifth graders demonstrated their newspaper calligraphy to the school!

-Melissa Hoppie, with information from All Souls World Language Bilingual School

Latino children are the future and promise of Catholic schools, but as the Editors of America Magazine point out, they are not being served by our schools nearly enough. Citing research from Boston College’s Dr. Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill and Dr. Hosffman Ospino, the article states that “[there is an] estimated 14.5 million Catholic primary and secondary school age children in the United States, eight million of whom are Latino… Yet less than 4 percent of them attend Catholic schools.”

As the article describes, the low enrollment rate of Latinos in Catholic schools is influenced by a number of reasons including geographic and financial factors. However, PEW Research Center has released a startling report that “in 2015 that half of all U.S. adults raised Catholic leave the faith at some time in their life,” but those who attended Catholic primary school “are more likely to remain Catholic as adults and more likely to consider a vocation to religious life or the priesthood, according to Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.” The benefits of Catholic education go further: children who attend Catholic schools are more likely to graduate high school with 86% of that population going on to attend a four-year college, according to a study by National Catholic Education Association.

How do we increase the Latino population of our schools? The article emphasizes church outreach:


“[The] church needs to foster a culture of Catholic education among Latino communities. Catholic school leaders must take it upon themselves to know their community demographics and cultivate relationships with community members…Since these steps will increase Latino enrollment, the church will need to build more Catholic schools, especially in the South and West.”


The TWIN-CS Network has worked toward this very model of inclusion. As members of the TWIN-CS community, we endeavor to create lasting relationships with our communities and encourage communities of care.


TWIN-CS members, please comment below if you have stories of community-building activities from your school!

-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

America Magazine has published a fascinating article featuring Dr. Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill, director of the Roche Center of Catholic Education at Boston College, and Dr. Hosffman Ospino, associate professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education, also at Boston College. As our readers may remember, Dr. Weitzel-O’Neill and Dr. Ospino co-authored the 2016 report “Catholic Schools in an Increasingly Hispanic Church,” a report which is cited quite often in this article.
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​The article, written by Brandon Sanchez, discusses the changing demographics of Catholic schools and how school faculties are not reflecting those changes. Citing figures such as Dale McDonald, P.B.V.M., director of public policy at the National Catholic Educational Association, the article addresses the intricacies of the “weak professional” pipeline which directly influences Catholic schools’ teaching staff.  Please peruse the article here.

-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

Today's fun Friday video comes to us from TEDEd,  World Educational Services' Mia Nacamulli and global educator Pen Pen Chen. This five-minute video provides key vocabulary, concrete examples, and yet another way to explain the lifelong benefits of multilingualism. I encourage our Network schools to share this video in faculty meetings, at parent nights, and with key allies of your school. Soon, everyone will want to be learning alongside your fantastic students!

-Mary Bridget Burns,  Assistant Director for TWIN-CS

Here in New England, fall is in the air. The leaves are starting to change, small towns are holding community bonfires, and apple cider donuts are being shared by friends. It is a beautiful time of year, the start of many secular and religious holiday celebrations. 

Our friends at Colorín Colorado have prepared a wonderful list of multilingual, multicultural children's books about fall traditions that the TWIN-CS community is bound to enjoy.  We highlight a few here, but do check out their list for more.

Yangsook Choi's Behind the Mask tells the story of a Korean-American boy named Kimin who wants to be his grandfather for Halloween. As the story unfolds, Kimin learns to handle both his classmates' teasing and the mystery of the mask he wears. 

Author Marisa Montes practiced law for a few years before turning to her childhood love of reading as a new career path. Born in Puerto Rico, raised in the United States and France, Montes has experienced many cultures and traditions, which she has incorporated into her books. In the poem book, Los Gatos Black on Halloween, Montes weaves together Spanish and English, to bring the sights, smells, and sensation of the holiday alive for all children. 

Canadian author Mindy Willett began writing for children her own students asked why there were no stories about them. As children of First Nations communities in the North West Territories, these children had been overlooked by many authors and publishers, but Mindy Willett was eager to provide a way for them to share their voices. In her book about fall, Willett writes with Sheyenne Jumbo from the Dene community in Trout Lake, North West Territories. Together, Mindy and Sheyenne share a new perspective on the changing seasons. 
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Ian Hanigan of the Orange County Department of Education Newsroom has announced the newest episode of the Deeper Learning Podcast, a podcast which delves into personal experiences about learning and education. This particular episode reflects on the necessity of bilingual education for heritage learners and children of immigrants.

The episode has a number of incredible speakers and stories, from students to educators, from home life to the classroom. Dr. Al Mijares, the Superintendent of Orange County Schools, invites all to share their personal stories about language and education. One interviewee, Alyx Nguyen, a high school student in Huntington Beach California, shares her experience as a Vietnamese-American growing up without her heritage language and how that has influenced her personal trajectory as a student. Please take time to listen to these inspiring stories about bilingual education here.

Let us know what you think about this podcast and whether you have any stories to share!
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-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

Edweek’s Corey Mitchell has written another outstanding article surrounding dual language education in the United States. This article, though brief, highlights six key insights for dual language schools as voiced by dual language experts from across the country.
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​The interviews, conducted with experts such as David Rogers, executive director of Dual Language Education of New Mexico, and Rosa Molina, executive director of the Association for Two-Way & Dual Language Education, attempt to answer the following questions:

1.    What resources do you need to start a dual-language program?

2.    What are some of the challenges districts may encounter with those lesser-taught languages?

3.    How can schools with dual-language programs emphasize the importance of both languages?

4.    When helping districts establish dual-language programs, is there a big misconception that you have to work to dispel early on?

5.    How can educators, even those working outside of classrooms, support dual-language education?
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6.    What are some growing pains that schools can expect to encounter after launching dual-language programs? Are there other examples of growing pains that schools may not anticipate?

The TWIN-CS Network includes both veteran and novice members, and while this article may be most helpful to those new to dual language programs, it may behoove our veteran readers to remember these core concepts.

Please feel free to comment below if you believe there is anything missing from this list!

-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

Written by journalist Kashmira Gander, a recent article from NewsWeek details the importance of bilingual education for cognitive development. While we are all familiar with the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, which include delaying diseases like Alzheimer’s, this article suggests that cognitive benefits stem from turning “off” one language rather than turning “on” the second language.


A recent study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences purports that “turning off one language required activity in the cognitive control areas, but turning on the second language required little to no effort.” The study was conducted with 21 American Sign Language (ASL) volunteers who were filmed while they looked at an image and then named it in both English and sign language simultaneously, “as special equipment measured their brain activity.” The study also revealed that “adding on the dominant language didn’t require more exertion, even when participants had to use two languages at the same time,” which underlines that turning “off” a language requires more cognitive effort.


The researchers of the study conclude that “[this] research, as well as previous evidence, indicates that the cognitive control that's needed to speak more than one language could train our brains to become more efficient.”


The TWIN-CS Network recognizes the many cognitive benefits dual language education, and subsequent bilingualism, has for our students, but it is fascinating to learn that these benefits may stem from alternative places than previously thought.


Let us know what you think below!


-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

Translanguaging was featured prominently at the 2018 Summer Academy when several breakout sessions and lunch meetings were offered to discuss research on the topic and ideas for incorporating translanguaging into instruction. A recent article in Language Magazine explores this concept further through the research of Dr. Laura Hamman, classroom teacher Emeline Beck, and educator Aubrey Donaldson. 

Their examination of common classrooms practices, a review of research on translanguaging, and a thorough reflection of their teaching has resulted in three recommendations for translanguaging principles:

Principle 1: Translanguaging pedagogies should be purposefully designed and implemented.
-focus on the lesson and the objectives of the instruction
-keep language flexible, but purposeful and strategic

Principle 2: Translanguaging pedagogies should promote interaction and inclusion, drawing upon what students know individually and collectively.
-drawing on the work of Vygotsky (1978), the authors argue that teachers need to consider the broad linguistic and experiential knowledge their emergent bilingual students may have, including the fact that they may be developing two, three or more languages simultaneously

Principle 3: Translanguaging pedagogies should enrich learning across all of the languages in a student’s repertoire.
-recognizing that the students may be learning much more than two langauges, the instruction should be supportive of the whole linguistic experience, so that they can become truly multilingual and multi-literate
"Translanguaging pedagogies can help to facilitate this transfer, activating the interdependency among a student’s different linguistic resources and enabling students to flexibly negotiate meaning and develop deeper metalinguistic knowledge."

Read their entire article here, as great anecdotes and suggestions are shared. 

​-Mary Bridget Burns, Assistant Director 

The Boston College community is pleased to welcome James Martin, SJ to campus to deliver the inaugural Daniel J. Harrington SJ lecture. The First Annual Harrington lecture is named for Father Harrington, who taught classes on the New Testament at Boston College and Weston Jesuit School of Theology.  Father Martin published a kind remembrance of Father Harrington upon his passing in 2014. 

Father Martin, himself a graduate of Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry, and editor at large for America magazine, "will reflect on his theological education and formation, how it has impacted his ministry, and what he sees as the most pressing needs for ministry in the world today." Using the tools of social media and periodicals, Martin has been an effective communicator of his views on Catholicism and contemporary society, enjoying a wide following. Tickets for the lecture were given away quickly, but it will be available via livestream through the Boston College Facebook page . 

TWIN-CS members may recall the informative and interesting video on Lent that Father Martin SJ shared on YouTube, which was used in a Network webinar. The Harrington Lecture is sure to be just as engaging. 

What: Inaugural Harrington Lecture, Boston College
When: Thursday, September 20th at 7pm
Where: Facebook Livestream

​-Mary Bridget Burns, Assistant Director 

Leon Panetta, former Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense, has written an article for the San Francisco Chronicle detailing the importance of language acquisition going forward for the United States.

According to the article, “Americans are losing out because so few speak a second language,” creating a “dangerous myopia” in which we are inadequately prepared to understand other people and nations because we are unable to communicate effectively with them.

In 1979, Mr. Panetta was a participant in the President’s Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies. The Commission established that “Americans’ incompetence in foreign languages is nothing short of scandalous,” which, nearly 40 years later, has been reiterated by The American Academy of Arts and Sciences: “[T]he dominance of English, to the exclusion of other languages, has also had adverse and often unforeseen consequences at home and abroad — in business and diplomacy, in civic life, and in the exchange of ideas.”
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Mr. Panetta concedes that English has firm roots in most international affairs (i.e. NATO, United Nations, World Trade Organization), yet he reminds us that “an education in English to the exclusion of other languages — remains insufficient to meeting our needs in a global world.” That is, in a time of opening “international markets,” business leaders and policymakers not only looking for fluency in languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, etc., but are looking for “people who understand the idioms and nuances that characterize true communication in any culture.”

While there has been a national call to action (released by The American Academy of Arts and Sciences), Mr. Panetta remarks that the support needed to foster language acquisition in the United States ”should include the training and certification of more language teachers, the creation of more public-private partnerships in language education, encouragement for immigrant and indigenous language communities to retain and master languages in addition to English; and better opportunities for study abroad.” He concludes that while the United States is slowly accepting language acquisition, we still have a long way to go in making multilingualism possible for “people of every age, ethnicity and socioeconomic background.”

​As we have written previously on the blog, multilingualism promotes the understanding and tolerance of other cultures. The TWIN-CS Network is already familiar with this mantra, and seems to be ahead of the curve, considering that “language acquisition is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Please let us know what you think about multilingualism in terms of international affairs!

-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

New America, a non-partisan think tank, discusses the National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent study on the educational experience of dual language learners (DLLs) in kindergarten. The study, titled “English Language Program Participation Among Students in the Kindergarten Class of 2010–11: Spring 2011 to Spring 2012,” is written by Jeremy Redford of the American Institutes for Research.


The New America blog post, co-authored by Amaya Garcia, Ingrid T. Colón, and Itziri Gonzalez-Barcenas, delineates the fundamental statistics that set the stage for the latest DLL education revelation.


Firstly, the blog post recognizes that “around one in six kindergartners is a DLL who is in the process of learning English while still developing proficiency in their home language.” This information is followed by socioeconomic descriptors of the studied kindergarten classes. Eleven percent of students were participating in English language programs, “80 percent were Latino, 57 percent were living below the poverty line, and 35 percent had parents with less than a high school education.” The article surmises that “these statistics are in-line with larger demographic trends, which document that DLL/EL students are more likely to grow up in poverty and exposed to other risk factors that can influence their success in school.”


The study also evaluated the differing English language program models used in these kindergarten classes, including English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, bilingual education programs, and dual language (or two-way immersion) programs. According to the article, “a growing body of research demonstrates that DLLs can thrive in school without sacrificing their home languages,” and the National Academies concludes that “ELs who develop high levels of proficiency in both [their first language] L1 and English relative to those with low levels of bilingual proficiency are more successful at closing the achievement gap in reading with their native English-speaking peers.”


The blog post concludes that dual-language (DL) immersion seems most effective for sustaining home languages and, in fact, bolsters the language acquisition of English. While ESL classes are more popular in the United States, the study believes that this popularity is due to misinformation about immersion classes (i.e. that bilingual education might harm English acquisition which has been proven false), a lack of information about available DL programs shared with parents, and a national shortage of bilingual educators.


To bolster local enrollment in our TWIN-CS Network, perhaps our members can consider this article. Please feel free to comment below on how your school garners local support and appreciation!


-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

Colorín Colorado has refurbished its resource page for English Language Learner (ELL) educators for the upcoming academic year! The resource page features articles, blog posts, guides, toolkits, book recommendations, recent research, and related videos which promote collaboration between ELL colleagues and administrators, and discuss the best tactics to inspire partnership.

One such example of encouraging partnership is described in a brief interview between Colorín Colorado manager Lydia Breiseth and Diane Staehr Fenner, Ph.D. and President of SupportEd. They discuss the concept of “elevator speech,” or practicing “the way you talk about what you do so that you can communicate about it effectively,” to administrators and colleagues who may not be familiar with what you do. Moreover, with differing qualifications for ELL educators in each state, administration might not completely understand your qualifying background:

“If you had thirty seconds to describe what it is that you do, to practice that with your colleagues, with administrators, to really let your expertise shine through because many times… administrators might not have a 100 percent clear idea of what it is that the ESL teacher does and what expertise that teacher brings.”

Please find the resource page here.
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-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

An article recently published by the Language Magazine and authored by Dr. Simona Montanari details the profound effect one school district has had on the state of California. Benjamin Franklin Magnet School, a school located in the Glendale Unified School District in Southern California, is a dual language school environment which teaches all subjects in both Italian and English.

As the article reminds us, California passed a controversial piece of legislation in 1998 titled Proposition 227. This legislation mandated that all English Language Learners (ELLs) must be taught exclusively in English in the state of California. Bilingual education “was often seen – and resented by some – as a form of public assistance for the sole benefit of immigrants’’ children;” as we now know, bilingualism benefits all in terms of cognitive learning, language and reading development, and the promotion of multicultural perspectives. Proposition 227 was repealed in November 2016, but its effects on the ELL population are enduring:

“…A vast body of research…has now shown that English immersion is not more successful than bilingual education in teaching English language learners. State standardized test scores from 2003 to 2010 show that the gap between English language learners and all students has widened, with their performance in English and language arts being considerably lower than all other students.”

Los Angeles, a city with the fourth highest number of Italian Americans in the U.S., now has an Italian immersion program which similarly follows our own TWI program. With this program, not only will English speakers become multilingual, but Italian children who do not know their heritage language will learn to become fluent in both languages. Formerly, “recently-arrived Italians [to the U.S.] …lamented that their children did not have the opportunity to be educated in Italian along with English like the offspring of their Spanish- or French-speaking colleagues,” now that there are established Italian immersion programs in Southern California, third or fourth generation Italians are rediscovering and reclaiming their heritage language, traditions, and history.

With tremendous support, the Italian immersion program is flourishing: “A few years after its start, the program features an extensive library of Italian books and media; it hosts Italian-language assistants and visiting teacher-interns from Italy; and it offers a variety of after-school and summer enrichment activities in Italian.”

Bilingual programs offer much more to a marginalized community than just the practical motivation of degrees, jobs, and a better education: the reclamation of heritage is crucial to a child’s ethnic identity. Studies have shown that heritage language can be lost within two generations and that oftentimes relationships within a family can be riddled with conflict due to this inability to bridge heritage, language, and tradition.

Marginalized languages are at the forefront of this discussion. While bilingual programs are already short in supply, some languages are rarely considered, if at all, for these curricula. I mention Italian as one language, but we can also consider Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the third most spoken language in U.S., yet not enough attention is given to develop bilingual programs. Being mindful of these outstanding issues in the dual language community, we hope to constantly and consistently improve our education system to be more inclusive, more tolerant, and more aware with all students, especially heritage language learners.

Please follow the blog to hear more about dual language immersion programs from around the world!

-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher

Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School kicked off the 2018-2019 school year with a positive
problem. The school was short on desks and chairs!

On September 4, Holy Family opened their classrooms to 40 new students, 12 of which enrolled during the month of August. This summer surge in enrollment coincides with the school’s hiring of a Latino Outreach Coordinator who has gone into the parish and local community to promote the school. Claudia Susana Orozco, Susi, joined the Holy Family team on August 1 with a vision of community support and bridging the gap between the parish and school. “There are so many children in our parish who would benefit from a Catholic education and I want to make sure they know that this is not just a dream, it can be their reality,” states Susi, who has been a member of the parish since 1995.

The school was awarded a Building Diversity and Inclusion Grant through the Fulcrum
Foundation, a non-profit organization that leverages financial support for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Seattle, last year to support this position. Not only has the school seen an increase in new families from the parish, but their current families are better supported through a Buddy Family program. Susi also works in collaboration with the Madres Embajadoras group to increase classroom and school events that promote socio-cultural competence among all students. An increased awareness of other cultures is in alignment with the school’s Two-Way Immersion Program objectives. “It is not sufficient to simply learn another language,” states Larkin Temme, principal of Holy Family, “students must also embrace different cultural perspectives as well as an understanding of their own identity.”

Through Susi’s efforts, Holy Family hopes to continue to raise awareness of their program in the local community while building a diverse family of faith within the school.

Guest blogger, Principal Larkin Temme of Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School, Seattle

Published by Edutopia and written by Refugee and Immigrant Newcomer Education Consultant Louise El Yaafouri, “Strategies for Easing Transition Shock” discusses the best methods to guarantee the healthy social, emotional, and academic development of students with disrupted schooling.


The article introduces the term “transition shock” which is defined as “an umbrella term that incorporates culture shock, chronic distress, traumatic upset, and post-traumatic stress disorder—can impact student success in a number of behavioral, emotional, and physiological ways.” Transition shock can exist in any number of students, but this article focuses on the fast-growing population of English Language Learners (ELLs) who may have come from areas of war or resettlement. Following this discussion on terminology, Ms. Yaafouri lists the manifestations of this “shock,” including which can include physical or behavioral issues. These issues can directly impede the educational development of ELLs.


How do we help these students? Ms. Yaafouri offers 4 solutions:

1. A calm, organized environment: “For trauma-impacted students, safety and trust are essential foundations of learning. Environment is a large predictor of safety, so order, routine, and predictability are important to students with a history of transition shock.”

​Ms. Yaafouri suggests making an effort to stick to scheduled class time and to adequately prepare students if there will be a change. She also suggests “clear and consistent” expectations and consequences, as well as a room with supplies in labeled bins.


2. Crossing midline activities: “Take short breaks for kinesthetic movements that traverse imaginary lines that divide the human body into quadrants, such as touching the right elbow to the left knee. These activities encourage communication between the brain’s hemispheres and aid with emotional regulation.”

Some forms of kinesthetic movements can be “drawing figure eights in the air or stretching the body in ways that cross the midline.”


3. Expressive therapy: “Art, drama, and music therapy are among the most promising tools for trauma mitigation. In fact, research points to expressive therapy in the classroom as a way to lessen anxiety, encourage self-regulation, enhance cognition, practice mindfulness, and promote healthy integration. ELLs may especially benefit, as this encourages expression in the new language. These strategies can be embedded into lessons across grade levels and content areas.”

A few options for expressive therapy can include “a class mural related to a topic of study, using math blocks to create patterns, taking photos for a report, designing a webpage or music video related to a topic of study, or designing a building using only certain mathematical angles.”



4. Seek out strengths: “All students come to school with knowledge or wisdom based on their life experiences and prior schooling. As teachers, we’re experts at recognizing and building upon students’ unique interests, skill sets, and background knowledge. Learners with trauma backgrounds especially benefit from this intentionality, as it can increase both confidence in self and trust in others.”


Learn about your students and offer opportunities for their strengths to shine in the classroom.

With the emergent demographic of ELLs steadily increasing, all educators should remain aware of these 4 methods, especially if your students come from a background with disrupted schooling. As members of TWIN-CS, we are especially conscious of providing our students with holistic learning, making sure that we acknowledge strengths, that we engage in interactive activities, and that we create a calming environment for education to prosper.


-Melissa Hoppie, Graduate Student Researcher