User:Seedvp/Sunset Elementary School

Founded in 1896 and located in Miami, Florida, Sunset Elementary School is a vibrant multicultural learning community in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Sunset Elementary’s International Studies Magnet Program (ISP), the first ISP of South Florida and one of the first in the U.S., was created in 1986 in response to the needs of the vast international community of South Florida, with a broad vision of producing high achieving students with deep global awareness, fluent in more than one language and more than one culture, and well prepared to live and work in the 21st century.

In addition to a rigorous English curriculum infused with international themes across disciplines, ISP students in grades 1 through 5 enjoy the unique possibility of receiving the demanding official Spanish, French, or German curriculum in the respective world language for a total of 2.5 hours of instruction every day in both language arts and content instruction (math, science, and social studies).

The ISP is a dual recognition program implemented as a collaborative effort with the Ministries of Education of Spain, France, and Germany through comprehensive agreements. Educational Attachés from these countries have been working cohesively with Sunset Elementary’s administration, teachers, students, and parents since 1986, providing curriculum, native textbooks for language arts, math, social studies and science, and sponsoring foreign teachers. The three governments perform annual in-depth assessments of the program. Presently, Sunset Elementary ISP is the only internationally accredited magnet school in the United States to provide such a comprehensive, academically challenging program to elementary school children.

Sunset Elementary embraces diversity. Its multicultural student body is composed of students from more than fifty countries who speak over twenty different languages at home. In order to accommodate divergent student abilities, Sunset Elementary offers a School of Choice Program, an integrated Math and Science Gifted Program, an Emotionally Handicapped Center, a Learning Disabilities/Varying Exceptionalities Program, and a Pre-Kindergarten Program, in addition to its ISP. With the exception of world language instruction classes, students are heterogeneously grouped throughout the day.

Building on its strong foundation of broad academic excellence and commitment to international education, all Sunset Elementary students receive an Integrated International Curriculum in English across all disciplines: language arts, reading, social studies, PE, music, and art. First grade focuses on Spanish speaking countries, second grade on German speaking countries, third grade on French speaking countries, fourth grade on the influence of these cultures on Florida, and fifth grade on the impact of these cultures on the U.S. English textbooks are regularly supplemented to accommodate the international dimension of Sunset’s education.

The curriculum and support for the International Studies programs is governed by Memorandum of Understanding from the host country. Being a Magnet Schools and School of Choice, entry is open to all students in Miami Dade county. Nationals of the host country have a separate application process. Entry to the ISP requires a competency test in the language after first grade. A random drawing decides entry when applicants exceed available spots, with nationals of the host country having priority. Students in the ISP have automatic admission into the Carver IS program. Each program has an active parent association: SIPA for Spanish, FIPA for French , and GIPA for German.

Of Sunset Elementary’s 1,073 students (2006-2007), 815 students (75.7% of total student population) are enrolled in the ISP: 405 in Spanish, 268 in French, and 142 in German. However, 100% of Sunset students receive the Integrated International Curriculum in all core and special classes.