The Global Ambassadors Language Academy, or GALA, is a new dual-language immersion school on Cleveland's west side. It's the first of its kind in Ohio. Students spend some of their day learning in English, and the better part of their day is in Spanish or Mandarin.
"Part of the mission of this school is to really help Cleveland embrace diversity and culture in different languages," said Meran Rogers, GALA's Founding Director. Rogers says students should become bilingual by 3rd grade. Both she and Principal Jessica Gilway said this is the type of school they each want for their own children.
"They are immersed in it. They are getting all this content in the target language, so they develop fluency in that language a lot more quickly," said Principal Gilway.
Both Rogers and Gilway say the progress from day one to the end of the year is remarkable. And parents hope to learn the language from their children.
Some families come from within the school's neighborhood, but we also found others commuting from a half hour to an hour away.
GALA is tuition free. The school has opened to grades K through 1 this year, but will expand each year up to 8th grade. No prior language skills are required.
Although the school year has started GALA still has two informational open houses scheduled on Wednesday August 10 or Saturday August 13. To learn more you can visit GALA's website by clicking here.