At Claremont Immersion School in Arlington, VA, many students enter school speaking Spanish as a primary language and English as their secondary language. As they progress towards being fully bilingual by the time they leave Claremont at the end of fifth grade, those students may receive a variety of services along the way — small group instruction, extra practice with an ESL teacher, or support from their classroom teacher.

While it's unusual, once in awhile a student like Gian Carlos arrives as an older newcomer. Since he is already fluent in Spanish, his teachers can focus on bringing his English language skills up to grade level while also continuing his language and literacy development in his native language.