A standing room only crowd of students, family and friends packed Sammamish High School to celebrate Puesta Del Sol Elementary’s expanded International Festival last Friday evening, Feb. 26. The evening was highlighted by 18 diverse performances with over 125 students participating, an array of cultural displays and demonstrations and a feast featuring cuisine from around the globe.

Bellevue School District’s Spanish Immersion program is part of the district’s foreign language department. At Puesta del Sol, Students in grades K-5 are immersed in the Spanish language for most of the day as they study the same curriculum as Bellevue’s other elementary schools.

The immersion program students continue together through junior high at Tillicum and senior high at Newport High School. Those that complete the program approach native fluency and earn an International Spanish Academy certificate.

By 12th grade, almost all students in Spanish Immersion have completed two advanced placement Spanish classes, and they also have passed the DELE, an internationally recognized language test.

The Spanish Immersion program was established in the district in 1986. The program has grown in size and popularity ever since. The school now has 530 students and enrollment in Puesta Del Sol is lottery-based. The lottery for next fall’s kindergarten class closed on Friday, Feb. 26 with over 160 students hoping to land one of the 92 spots in the next incoming class.