TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County Schools created the dual language program in 2017 after the district saw a shift in the community. As they started serving more and more families who spoke only Spanish, they wanted to adapt to their needs.

Melissa Morgado, the supervisor of World and Dual Languages, says dual-language has helped open the doors for many families.

“We bring that family oriented and make them know that they are welcome here and their families are welcome here and that we value the assets they bring to school,” she said.

This year, the school district is expanding the program into middle schools. It’s estimated about 200 students will be involved at that level.

It’s back to the classroom for Yaricel Rivera Morales.

“This is some posters and I’m using them because the kids need both languages,” she said while preparing her classroom for the first day of school.

Morales’ been teaching for 19 years. Part of that time, she’s focused on teaching students the English language. She’s also taught Spanish literature and AP Spanish.

What she loves the most about teaching is, “I love that the kids feel engaged in the class and feel like the classroom is a home,” she said.

That’s the environment she hopes to cultivate each year and this year she’ll be part of something new.

Morales is one of seven teachers at Shields Middle School who will make up the Dual-Language program. She feels this is going to be a help to her students.

“I think that it’s going to help a lot, not just for learning, but also with confidence and self-esteem,” she said.

She will be teaching English and Spanish. It’s all part of the dual-language model. Where 50% of the material is taught in English, while the other half is taught in Spanish.

Morales said she’s excited to see the program expand to middle schools.

“For me, it’s very important to be here in this position because first I can help students academically, second I think that I can advocate for them,” she said.

As someone who struggled to learn the English language herself, Morales said it’s important to be an example to her students — that anything is possible.

“I can help more students to be bilingual as to graduate from high school go to college and we can show that our population brings a lot of different things,” she said.

As Morales embarks on this new educational journey, she’s hoping to continue developing a community where language is a bridge and not a barrier.

The middle schools who will be offering this program are Shields, Pierce, and Smith middle schools.