Magellan International School to Open August 2009

The Magellan International School (MIS) is set to open up in Austin in August of 2009 with Pre-Primary and K-2nd grade.  MIS is a private, not-for-profit school which aims to educate the children of Austin, Texas to become competitive Global Citizens for the 21st Century.  The school will feature an International Baccalaureate curriculum framework that [...]

Bill Richardson exemplifies the bi-cultural and bi-lingual future of America

Bill Richardson, the current Governor of New Mexico, was appointed by President-Elect Obama as his new Secretary of Commerce today.  Bill is the son of a Spanish woman and a Nicaraguan born American and grew up in Mexico City – rumor has it that he attended the American School Foundation – my own alma mater!
While [...]

“..make sure young Americans are citizens of the world..”

Dick Martin, author of the book “Rebuilding Brand America” and former Vice President of Public Relations and Brand Managenent at AT&T, was recently quoted by CNN in an article entitled “Obama poised to rebrand America, experts say“.  In the article, which discusses things that the new president can do to reestablish the US “brand” around [...]

Next Austin Bilingüe Meeting – Wed, Nov 12, 2008 from 7 to 9 pm

SPEAKER: Dr. Benjamin Kramer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership Program, Texas State University – San Marcos
TOPIC: Ben is the former Principal of Mathews Elementary, a diverse public elementary school with 3 bilingual programs (Spanish, Chinese, and Korean).  In 1998, he launched an investigation into the opening of a dual-language Spanish-English track within the school.  He’ll [...]

Pew Research Center reports that “Hispanics Account for Half of U.S. Population Growth Since 2000…”

To add further evidence to the importance that bilingual and bicultural education will have in the future of our country the Pew Research Center’s “Pew Hispanic Center“ today released a new report that shows that since 2000 Hispanics accounted for half of the U.S. population growth.  In a very nice interactive map that is available on their [...]

My visit to the Escuela Bilingüe Internacional in Oakland, CA

Sitting right in a quaint and bohemian neighborhood next to UC Berkeley is the Escuela Bilingüe Internacional, a Pre-K, K, and early elementary school that focuses on English-Spanish dual language immersion education.  The school’s curriculum is structured according to the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Program and is taught by a group of native Spanish speaking [...]

Next Austin Bilingüe Meeting – Wed, Aug 27, 2008 from 7 to 9 pm

SPEAKER/TOPIC: Erin Defosse, founder of Austin Bilingüe, will provide an update on the status of the various dual-language elementary school initiatives in Austin.
LOCATION: La Madeleine / Arboretum, 9828 Great Hills Trail, Austin, TX 78759.
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, August 27, 2008. 7-9 pm.
RSVP: send email to collaborate[at]austinbilingue[dot]org

My visit to the American School in Mexico City

Earlier this month I visited the American School in Mexico City – the same school that I graduated from high school at back in the late 80’s.  This year marks the 120th anniversary of the school making it one of the oldest schools of it kind in the world and part of the global network [...]

Obama declares that “every child should speak more than one language”

At a recent campaign stop in Powder Springs, GA Barack Obama ignited a firestorm amongst bloggers and others in the media by declaring that “every child should speak more than one language” and that parents should ensure that their kids are bilingual – specifically in English and Spanish.  Reaction to the [...]

June 25th Meeting – Deb Palmer’s Presentation

At the fifth Austin Bilingue meeting held on Wednesday, June 25th we had the fortune of hearing from Dr. Deborah Palmer, Assistant Professor of Bilingual and Bicultural Education at The University of Texas at Austin.  Deb’s presentation entitled “Educating for Equity in Dual Language Settings” was an eye opening overview of the challenges (and opportunities) that [...]