There were days when Kristina Otto's daughter would come home from school at Lamar Elementary in Conroe ISD exhausted after a day of learning her core curriculum in Spanish—her child's second language.

The dual language program in Conroe ISD has been a key educational initiative that promotes bilingualism by pairing Spanish-speaking students with English-speaking students. The program benefits families by fostering cultural exchange and language skills.

What these programs look like can vary across the country but typically, a dual-language immersion program covers kindergarten through 5th grade and students learn academic content while also receiving language instruction in both English and a partner language—often Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, or French.