Porter Ranch Community School (PRCS) Enrollment is about to begin at the YMCA on Corbin. You may pick up a packet and return it at the following times: 12:45-3pm on April 17, 19, 24, and 26, with more dates to come. Check the school's site for more information. Enrollment has a direct impact on the number of teachers that can be hired, so it would be helpful if families would enroll as soon as possible.

PRCS will have a Korean Dual Language Program and you may be wondering what that is. It is just one program being offered at the school. Here’s how the program will work:

How the classes will be conducted?

• Usually classes are taught half a day one language and the other half the second language, especially in the primary grades.
• Both English learners and English proficient students are mixed in the same classroom to promote bilingualism, biliteracy, and multiculturalism.
• Students are held to the same high academic standards in all subjects.
• Instruction is performed with one language at a time to facilitate a better understanding of the subject matter.
• Grouping strategies will be used to promote language development and literacy skills in both English and Korean.

How does the program continue in middle school?
Students who participate in the program are expected to remain in the program for a minimum of six years. However, historically students have dropped out over time, making the program smaller in the higher grades. The program requires at least 2 classes a day to be taught in Korean. Depending upon staffing, middle school students may take Korean as an elective and may have a 7th period in Korean Culture. Or they may have Social Studies taught in Korean and English and then an elective Korean Cultural class that would also be open to non-program students.

How do students get into the program?
Anyone may join at the kindergarten or first grade levels. The goal is for the class to start with half the students being native Korean speakers and half the students being native English speakers. After first grade, students must test into the program. Testing will be completed on August 10, 2012. Both languages may be assessed, if applicable. PRCS has already had a strong response from neighborhood families.

How big is the program?
There will be one KDLP kindergarten class and one KDLP class at each grade level. As the students reach higher grade levels, they may have two grades in one classroom due to current student / teacher ratios.  LAUSD projections call for the school to open with 550 students. The maximum capacity of students is 980.

How many students are planning to transfer from the KDLP at Topeka for elementary?
In April 2011 the KDLP program in Topeka had 123  and as of now the majority of them are delighted to be moving to the new school.

What will the impact be on the demographics of PRCS?
The school's demographics are expected to reflect the neighborhood that it serves. For a snapshot of the community see the LA Times Mapping Project.

How will KDLP students be integrated into the school if they have the same classmates year after year?
PRCS plans to have multicultural activities which allow sharing of the Korean culture with the rest of the school and the cultures of the rest of the school shared with the KDLP program. Further, a large focus of PRCS will be on team building, integrating partnerships and cross grade level projects.  These activities will encourage all of theclasses to integrate and work together, this includes students who are in the program and those who are not.

What is the purpose of the program?

• Students become proficient in both oral and written Korean, as instruction in Korean in integrated into the daily curriculum.
• Students will be expected to meet the State Standards in all subjects using either language.
• In addition to language, students will receive instruction on Korean culture which they will be expected to share with the entire school community.
• Students in today’s world will greatly benefit from being bilingual.  Starting language instruction in middle school is too late for many students to become truly proficient in a second language.

School page about the program