Our Language Program

Goethe International Charter School (GICS) supports a multilingual environment. Our families come from different cultural backgrounds in the local community and from countries worldwide. More than 36 languages are spoken in their homes, often in combinations of 2 or 3.

As an IB World school, GICS focuses on developing students who can communicate in multiple languages. To do so, we offer these Language Tracks:

Grades K-2 | Immersion

50/50 English/German Language Immersion in all subjects. The immersion program provides instruction in accordance with the California Common Core standards and IB PYP curricular approaches.

Grades 3-5 | Immersion or Acquisition

a) 50/50 English/German Language Immersion in all subjects, OR

b) Core Instruction in English, plus German language instruction (approx. 2 periods/week),

PLUS Spanish language instruction (approx. 2 periods/week) for both a & b program students

Grades 6-8 | Acquisition

Core Instruction in English, plus choice between German or Spanish language instruction (2 periods/week). Language Acquisition classes consist of three levels of classes each for German and Spanish language acquisition. Students will be placed based on their prior exposure and language proficiency.

GICS is authorized to administer German Language Diploma exams A1, A2 and B1.