Dual Language Program
PSJA is a national leader in the dual language enrichment program with over 20 years of successful implementation. Southwest Early College High School leads the district in secondary dual language implementation with the most students enrolled and the largest cohort of students graduating with a seal of biliteracy each year. Students have two options for entering the program, both traditional and non-traditional. Traditional students enter the program and receive balanced, on-grade-level biliterate instruction beginning in pre-kindergarten. Non-traditional students enter at other grades with a dominance in one of the languages and receive linguistic support through the dual language program in their second language. As a result of Southwest’s successful dual language program, the school was chosen as a host site for a rigorous Mandarin Chinese through College Board. Southwest is the only comprehensive high school south of Dallas to offer such a program. This program has received significant recognition and now works in partnership with the University of Texas Rio Grande and the U.S. Department of Education through a grant that supports multilingual and cross-cultural education.