AURORA, Colo. — Aurora Public Schools will open its first dual-language school next week, naming it after Betty Benavidez — the first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado Legislature.
Escuela Bilingüe Betty Benavidez, formerly known as Six Avenue Elementary School, was closed due to low enrollment. The campus is now undergoing renovations and is being prepared to be an English and Spanish school for preschool through first grade students.
▶️ Denver7's Jessica Porter reports as Aurora opens first dual-language school honoring Colorado trailblazer
Benavidez sponsored the Bilingual Bicultural Act, which opened the doors to bilingual education. The school's name honors her legacy and the legislation she championed decades ago.
Her daughter, Susan Castro, said seeing her mother's name on the school was an emotional moment.
"I started to cry because it's just so amazing. That was always on my bucket list to have something named after her, and for it to be a bilingual school — that is an honor for her," Castro said.
Castro said education was very important to her mother.
"She was fluent in Spanish, and she thought it was very important that people, the kids, would be able to speak their own language. They wouldn't even let them in the schools and stuff, and so it's changed a lot," Castro said.
Escuela Bilingüe Betty Benavidez will use a gradual 90/10 model, meaning instruction will be given in 90 percent Spanish and 10 percent English in preschool. That ratio will gradually shift to 50 percent Spanish and 50 percent English in the upper grades. Aurora Public Schools says dual language programs have been proven to help students achieve high levels of language proficiency, develop greater cognitive abilities, and enhance their understanding of their primary language.
School Principal Anabel Rafoul said opening the school was a yearlong process that included a partnership with the University of Boulder, a national leader in dual education, to build the curriculum.
"This school was created with the community in mind. Aurora is a multilingual, multicultural community. Half of the student population speaks Spanish as a first language. We did work entirely for a whole year finding the best bilingual teachers possible. I do believe that we have the best teachers in the building," Rafoul said.
Rafoul said she wants students to feel a sense of belonging from day one.
"I want them to know that this is their school, that this is their community, that this is a place where the students belong, where they belong, where their culture and their language is valued, where they will be able to participate and and just build the community together," Rafoul said.
Every year, the school will add a new grade level until it serves pre-K through fifth grade students by 2030. The first day of school is Thursday, August 6.
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