Building Bilingual Programs in Elementary Schools

Mirka Vlckova and Marikay McCabe, founders of elementary schools in Prague and Madrid, transitioned to leadership and training roles in international organizations. In 2019, Mirka invited Marikay ...

We want tork, learn and grow together. Our goal is to work with bilingual schools in Europe to change elementary bilingual education. Schools, leaders, and teachers struggle to build bilingual programs on their own, often with limited success. With the funding granted, we developed an approach to help schools start successful bilingual programs with free resources. Through our project we sparked discussions among ESL teachers to define key terminology, creating a common pedagogical language, developed a new sub-field combining ESL and Montessori education via expert collaboration, created a child-centered ESL methodology inspired by Montessori, useable in all schools, built common ground for ESL teachers and guides to improve classroom effectiveness, provided administrators with tools to support ESL teachers and student learning, helped administrators create language profiles for effective curriculs, developed a modular ESL curriculum adaptable to various school contexts, equipped ESL teachers with tools to reflect on their practice and meet students' needs built a growing community of 1,844 language professionals who participated in free online discussions, created a network for bilingual program development.

The project began with a Transnational Project Meeting and included five additional meetings over three years in the Czech Republic, Spain, and France. These brought together a team of bilingual education experts, including school leaders, researchers and ESL specialists. Their collaboration resulted in the development of three methodologies for school administrators, ESL teachers, and classroom guides, forming the foundations for the 60-hour online courses. To support wider engagement, we created and delivered: 10 webinars for the general public on bilingual education, led by leading field experts, with key themes such as language development, program implementation, and assessment. 10 expert-led webinars created to support both educators and parents in understanding bilingual education—with topics such as language development, effective program implementation, and assessment strategies. 32 newsletters distributed to over 1,000 subscribers, offering updates, event invitations, and shared insights. 18 free, live “Community Conversations”—interactive Zoom sessions featuring expert talks and Q&A. Recorded and published online for broader access. Every activity offered an online format, promoting inclusion and accessibility.