Ahora en Español: Inside Our Middle School Advanced Spanish Program
On any given day in our Spanish class, you might see students suggesting environmental solutions, translating a sign for Spanish-speaking visitors, or arguing over the correct Spanish word for “belly button.”
Launched at GPS this year, this unique program is designed for students who already speak Spanish comfortably, including both heritage speakers and nonnative students with strong fluency. Each year the class rotates through themes that invite the girls to examine real topics, from the environment and current events to poetry and visual storytelling. Spanish becomes the working language of the classroom, the medium through which students ask questions, collaborate, and explore. The class encourages students to take ownership of their learning as they research ideas, paraphrase information, and formulate questions.
A Peek in the Classroom
Some of the most memorable moments are unexpected. One of the girls’ favorite activities is a fast-paced vocabulary card game we call No Sabo. Students challenge each other to translate everyday English words that rarely appear in textbooks. Suddenly words like “armpit,” “doorknob,” or “mailbox” become the center of intense competition as they try to collect the most cards. It is chaotic, funny, and surprisingly effective. In moments like these, the girls discover one of the defining elements of GPS: sisterhood expressed through a language that belongs to them.
Real-World Applications
Environmental science has been a significant focus this year. The girls translated posters for TVA, studied ecosystems, and presented solutions to problems related to pollution. The class has explored Caribbean cultures and ecology, examining how the region’s islands, poetry, music, and art reflect its rich cultural history and biodiversity. Films and discussions helped them think about how stories shape the way we understand each other.
Experiential Learning
Learning also extends beyond the classroom. During a recent visit to the Tennessee Aquarium, the girls explored aquatic ecosystems while interacting with exhibits in both English and Spanish. They examined fish anatomy, learned scientific vocabulary, and even evaluated aquarium signage, asking where translations might better support Spanish-speaking visitors in Chattanooga. Using their language skills, the girls began imagining practical ways bilingual communication could make public spaces more accessible.
Learner-Centered Education in Action
A notable feature of the program is its emphasis on student voice and choice. The girls help shape activities and pacing, allowing curiosity to guide their learning. As members of the Elvia Piccolo Chapter of the Middle School Spanish Honor Society, Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad, they also apply their Spanish through community-focused work, from translating materials to creating bilingual content.
Of course, the girls still study syntax and verb tenses. The foundations of the Spanish language remain essential, and writing continues to play an important role, both by hand and through the use of digital tools that allow the girls to work with authentic texts and resources. They demonstrate their growth through presentations, textual analyses, research projects, essays, and collaborative work as they develop greater confidence and flexibility using Spanish.
By the end of the year, the girls have done far more than learn new vocabulary. They have used Spanish to ask questions, solve problems, and consider how their skills might serve others, putting the language to work, its words carried in their own voices.
About the Author
Rosie Espinosa is a World Languages Teacher at Girls Preparatory School.
She grew up in Havana, Cuba, and came to the United States in middle school without knowing a word of English. She has since then multiplied that knowledge extensively and added other languages to her repertoire—namely French, Greek, and some Latin. She has tutored and taught English, writing, math, history, and Spanish at the middle school, high school, IB DP, and college levels for the past 10 years. In the classroom, Rosie takes an innovative, classical, and learner-centered approach and prioritizes inclusivity and building relationships with her students. Her lessons focus on developing competencies in critical thinking through the study of grammar and information literacy through various applications of digital learning tools.