Sunset Elementary: Bilingual Public Education in French, German and Spanish

If you’re moving to Miami and interested in giving your children a bilingual education, the Miami public school system offers fabulous magnet program for international education. One of these public international and bilingual programs is in Sunset Elementary located in South Miami.

Sunset Elementary offers three languages as part of their International Studies Magnet Program, including Spanish, German and French. These students receive the official curriculum from that country for a total of two and a half hours daily. This helps the students to obtain a second language and empower them in speaking that language. These programs are taught by language teachers that are native to that country. The course program includes Spanish, German, and French language instruction in reading, language arts, math, science and social studies. Students in this program have an extra hour of school compared to students not in the program.

The magnet application opens on October 1^st and closes January 15^th of the same school year as applying. From kindergarten to 1^st grade, the school does not require testing to apply for the International Studies Magnet Program. However, from 2^nd to 5^th grade testing is required, and more challenging to get in. The students do not need to have any prior foreign language experience as this is a beginner program.

Sunset Elementary is not just a magnet school.  If you live in the area, you can also attend the school. The International Education Program is open to the in-boundary students. This program does not provide the same immersive language experience but does infuse a global awareness perspective. Students create models of world attractions, compare art and music of different cultures, learn folk dances from other nations, prepare recipes, visit cultural performances by foreign artists, and dramatize folk cultures.