‘Bridge between cultures’: Rock Hill students celebrate new school in Spanish, French
Rock Hill families on Wednesday celebrated the opening of the new Language Immersion Academy at Sullivan Middle School.
The school district hosted a ribbon cutting and open house at Cherry Park Elementary School of Language Immersion. Language immersion students translated welcome speeches into both Spanish and French.
“The language immersion school is intended for students and staff to communicate, collaborate, innovate and build relationships that will serve as a bridge between cultures,” said Rock Hill Superintendent Bill Cook. “Diversity and inclusion will be critical elements in the mission and identity and what will make this school excellent and unique.”
The academy will serve kindergarten to fifth-grade students in a language immersion program. The two-story building connects with the middle school.
“This is a big house, and we want every family and all families to find a place at our table at Cherry Park Elementary School of Language Immersion,” said the school’s first principal Pat Maness. “We welcome all of you to our new school home.”
The $18 million immersion academy consolidates the Spanish language immersion programs at Ebinport and Richmond Drive elementary schools and the French immersion program at Rosewood.
“Today marks the day when three school families from three separate schools will become one, joined as the Bobcats of Cherry Park Elementary,” said Helena Miller, Rock Hill school board chair.
The school’s construction is funded through the $110 million bond referendum passed in 2015.
“The very idea of a language immersion academy is not new,” Miller said. “It has taken many years of planning by dedicated staff, parents and volunteers to make today a reality.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 2:01 PM.
