Korean Bilingual Program

We are thrilled to announce that the Bellevue School District will offer a Korean Bilingual Program starting in the 2024-2025 school year! The program will be offered at Newport Heights Elementary School for students entering kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year.

Interested to learn more? Please join us for an information night!

ALL incoming Kindergarten students are welcome to take part in this program. Both in-district and out-of-district students, with diverse language proficiencies, are welcome to attend. This information night is intended for incoming Kindergarten students and families. Information about opportunities for secondary students interested in the Korean Bilingual Program will be shared soon.

Questions: Contact Heritagelanguageprograms@bsd405.org.

*Light snacks and refreshments, as well as childcare will be provided*

Korean Family Listening Session Event, October 19, 2023

We’re excited to share the highlights of our Korean Family Listening Session, which took place on October 19, 2023. This event marked a significant step in shaping the future of the Korean Heritage Bilingual Program, a program that includes both elementary and secondary students.

Over Korean teas and rice cakes, parents shared their dreams and hopes for their children, and the importance of preserving our home languages. In addition to these heartfelt discussions, we dove into the practical aspects of implementing the Korean heritage language program and its numerous benefits.

We had an incredible turnout, with more than 80 parents joining us in person, and over 25 participants joining us online. We were honored to have community organizations and leaders like board members of PNW Korean Parent Association, Jennifer Sohn, President of United Seattle and Bellevue Korean School, Joshua Hwang of Korean Culture and Education, Kyungho Park of Consul of Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle, Julie Kang, Director of Professional and Continuing Education of Seattle University, and EunYoung Won, Associate Teaching Profession of Asian Languages and Literature from University of Washington stand by us in support of BSD’s heritage language program initiative.

We also take great pride in our high school Korean Student Heritage Language Ambassadors and Team Members who generously volunteered to provide childcare during the event, allowing parents to fully engage in the presentation and community discussions.

As we move forward, our dedicated Korean Heritage Language Development Team is committed to incorporating the insights shared by our families. These insights will form the foundation for crafting a program model that genuinely resonates with the needs and aspirations of our students and their families.