Justina Montano organizes materials for Two-Way Immersion students. Photo by Ryan Lely
Justina Montano has been named coordinator of the Two-Way Immersion program at Flowery School, where students learn both English and Spanish.
Montano brings a wealth of experience in the field of education and a particular passion for bilingual education. Montano served as director of educational programs for the local CommonBond Foundation for the six years prior to January. In this role she was instrumental in starting English Camp, the Foundation’s summer program for English learners. Prior to coming to CommonBond, Montano, herself a teacher, worked in the field of teacher education, training her colleagues in techniques for teaching math. Montano has been a two-way-immersion parent since 2000.
Flowery principal Joyce Schipper observed that Montano brings her “superb credentials” to the job, the duties of which include coordinating the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP), a $500,000 federal grant to be used over three years.
“Justina and I actually wrote the grant proposal a year ago June. We found out the fall of last year that we received the grant,” explained Schipper. One aspect of Montano’s work has already begun.
“She coordinates our presence in the community, our overall program, our continuum, our standards-based language education. There’s quite a bit going on there,” said Schipper. “She’s also working with Adele Harrison to articulate the program through eighth grade, and has been building a network with other two-way-immersion schools in the area.”
Montano’s network is as far reaching as Vacaville to Ukiah. Montano also oversees kindergarten recruitment and maintains the continuum of standards-based language education.
“We’re extremely pleased to have her,” said Schipper.
Montano, whose first job was hauling heavy furniture in a classroom, began the position last Friday.
“My excitement about the job comes from the fact that, of all the education programs out there, this one seems to offer the most benefits, not just education benefits, but benefits for the community at large,” said Montano.
Among the benefits Montano cites is that students in the program grow up without cultural boundaries. Likewise, they develop an appreciation of diversity.
“The older I get, the more humbled I am by how much information is out there,” said Montano. “We need to educate our children to be life-long learners. It’s imperative that we raise kids to be productive citizens in a global society.”
