TAMPA BAY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL:
- Is independent and autonomous
- Serves 15 students in grades K-5 during the 2020-2021 school year.
- Seeks to enroll up to 15 additional students for the 2021-2022 school year in grades K-6.
- Will enroll additional students in higher grade levels in subsequent years until eventually, we serve around 100 students through 12th grade.
- Uses partial, two-way immersion – 50% Spanish and 50% English throughout our program
IMMERSION
What is language immersion?
- Students in an immersion program are taught in a language they are learning – a target language – for at least half their instructional time.
- In an immersion program, the target language is used to teach academic content – math, science, history, social studies – and more.
- Research shows that the most effective immersion programs take advantage of a critical, early period for language development and begin in preschool or kindergarten.
What Does The Research Say About Language Immersion?
What else do we know about immersion?
Decades of research on language immersion programs in the US show that:
- Immersion does not harm a child’s English. Instead, it enhances English growth.
- Immersion is highly beneficial to ELL students – children who are learning English.
- Immersion is a highly versatile tool that benefits students from multiple backgrounds – including gifted students and children from families of low socioeconomic status.
- Immersion has the power to help close the achievement gap that persists between minority and white students in the US.
RICH IN THE ARTS
Why do we deliver a program rich in the arts?
The arts are highly engaging and a natural fit for teaching language. The arts permit children to display their creativity, explore their passions, and speak out for what they believe in. The arts can be a comforting, therapeutic outlet for children. The arts add beauty to the world and enhance our lives.
Additionally, research on the arts shows that:
- The arts improve school readiness for young children.
- The arts increase creativity, critical thinking skills, tolerance, and empathy.
- The arts aid in brain development and rewiring in positive ways and produce other biological benefits.
- The arts reduce behavioral infractions and improve attendance and graduation rates among high school students, especially those of low socioeconomic status.
How do we deliver a program rich in the arts?
- We frequently teach music, the visual arts, the performing arts, and the literary arts.
- We hire skilled, creative teachers, adept at using the arts to teach academic content.
- We use music, the visual arts, the performing arts, and the literary arts to teach core content, including math and science.
- We allow our students to use the arts for a variety of purposes – to demonstrate their knowledge, to express their passions, and to speak out for what they believe in.
- Especially when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we will tap into Tampa Bay’s vibrant artistic community to connect to local artists, who will work directly with our students.
- We seek to form partnerships with local arts institutions, ensuring additional contact with artists both in and outside of our school.
- Eventually, we will host an artist-in-residence program, allowing both local artists and those from far away – even abroad – to share their expertise with our students.
INTERNATIONAL
How is our school international?
Through instruction conducted in the primary language spoken in 20 nations. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world.
- Through an educational program that emphasizes an exploration of cultures and people worldwide, especially those commonly left out of history books and curricula in the United States.
- Through the building of a global mindset that appreciates multiple perspectives of an issue.
- Through the formation of sister school relationships with schools in countries around the world.
- Through the gradual implementation of an international travel program with our sister schools.
- Through the hosting of international students, their parents, and faculty members by Tampa Bay International School families.
DIVERSITY
Why does diversity matter?
Because diverse, integrated schools:

BILINGUAL AND BILITERATE
Why learn Spanish?

- To be able to communicate with the 450 million native Spanish speakers on the planet, who speak the world’s second most common language.
- To learn the second most widely spoken language in Tampa Bay, throughout Florida, and in the United States.
- Over 20% of all Floridians speak Spanish.
- Since 2010, St. Pete’s population of citizens born in Latin America has increased by 40%.
- Clearwater’s Hispanic population is estimated at 20%.
- 25% of Tampa’s residents are Hispanic.
- The Latino population throughout Tampa Bay is expected to skyrocket by 27% over the next 15 – 20 years.
Why become bilingual?

- Because social relationships and travel experiences are enhanced for bilingual people!
- Because becoming bilingual is a mind opening experience! Bilinguals have an added appreciation of other people, cultures, and perspectives.
- Because becoming bilingual adds to a person’s future academic opportunities and earning potential!
- Because becoming bilingual makes you smarter! Bilinguals hold many cognitive advantages over people who speak only one language.
HELP FUND OUR SCHOOL
Tampa Bay International School is a registered 501 c 3 non-
profit organization. If you would like to make a tax deductible
donation to our school, please click below:
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