Foundational to the story of our tuition-free charter school is the desire to create a community of learners that embraces, values and celebrates multiculturalism. What does true multicultural learning look like in action? At Arco Iris Spanish Immersion School, it means broad exposure to cultures and diverse people, rich language learning, and cultural experiences that embrace diversity in the most authentic way possible.
Spanish Immersion
Bilingualism is an essential component of our multicultural philosophy. As a Spanish immersion school, 65-80% of academic content in grades K-5 is taught in Spanish and 20-35% is taught in English. Fluency in Spanish and English means our students are able to not only communicate effectively, but also to understand cultures in ways their monolingual counterparts may not.
Our teachers hail from multiple Spanish speaking countries, bringing with them their traditions, customs and language. Learning from a variety of Spanish speakers, each with different vocabulary, pronunciation and dialect, helps our students gain a broad understanding of the language and a deep understanding of culture.
Our Spanish curriculum teaches about Spanish speaking countries around the world in an organic and natural way, with emphasis often placed on the head teacher’s home country as a foundation for learning of traditions and cultural values.
Celebrating Our Diversity
Each year, from September 15 to October 15, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage month with events, celebrations and classroom learning. Our before- and after-school program incorporates crafts for hands-on fun, and teachers often decorate the halls with colorful symbols of the traditions of their home countries.
Over the last 13 years, our vision for a school environment that values multiculturalism has come to fruition. Arco Iris is a beautiful community of cultures, languages and traditions that whole-heartedly embraces and strives for diversity, equity and inclusion. We believe that a thriving community is one that appreciates and respects the difference in everyone.
We invite you to join us and see our mission in action in our small community school. We think you’ll like what you find. Enrollment for the 2023-24 school year is open now.
About Arco Iris
Arco Iris Spanish Immersion is a small tuition-free public charter school providing a rich, immersive Spanish language experience and robust academics in a true multicultural setting. Centrally located off 217, between SW Portland and Tualatin, we serve students in the greater Beaverton area to become bilingual and biliterate leaders of the future. Come see why we’ve earned the title Oregon’s #1 charter school. We’re enrolling for Fall 2023-24.