Q&A: Paloma Moreno, director of the multilingual program at Tomball ISD, talks about the bidirectional dual language program

Paloma Moreno, Tomball ISD’s new multilingual program director who took office in late June, has been preparing for her first year as department director weeks before the district resumes welcoming students on Aug. 13.

Two-minute impact

Moreno, who has worked at TISD for 13 years, was named the district’s new director of multilingual programs in June, according to a June 10 TISD news release. Prior to her new position, Moreno served as assistant principal at Tomball Intermediate School.

Moreno also helped establish TISD’s Two-Way Dual Language Academy, which teaches core subjects in both languages ​​to English and Spanish-speaking students at Rosehill Elementary School, according to TISD.

In April 2023, the TISD Board of Directors approved expanding the program to include fifth- and sixth-grade students at Tomball Intermediate School, according to an April 2023 district press release. The program will be piloted for fifth-graders for the 2024-25 school year, which began Aug. 13.

On 17 July Impact on the community spoke with Moreno about her plans for her new role, the bidirectional dual language program, and more. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why do you want to lead multilingual programs at TISD and what experience do you bring that will help you in this role?

There are a lot of things that attracted me to this job. I think one of them is that I studied multilingually myself. I was an aspiring bilingual student. And so to not only develop a second language but also retain my own and navigate the world as a bilingual adult was really special and I feel like it gives me the drive to enable children to do that.

Another thing is that in all the roles that I’ve held, I’ve been very passionate about supporting teachers and I believe that this role, this department in particular, is the reason why it exists. It exists to support teachers and it provides them with what they need to meet the kids where they are so that they can juggle all the things that teachers have to do today. …

I think (my experience at TISD) can be leveraged because I’ve been able to build a lot of relationships. I’m really familiar with the programs and … that way I can help foster that partnership with families and the community because there are a lot of familiar faces to interact with.

Why are this department and its multilingual programs important?

The vision of Tomball (ISD) … is to prepare students who will help shape the future. I think we are starting to get a glimpse of the future we are preparing them for. One thing is very clear: the job market is becoming increasingly globalized. By giving students the opportunity to learn a second or third language, they will be more competitive with those skills and have economic advantages. But multilingualism also has research-based cognitive, social and academic benefits. For many of these reasons, I think giving all children in Tomball (ISD) the opportunity to learn a second language really sets them up well for the future.

What do you hope to achieve in your first year as director?

I think this first year is really about building trust and relationships with campus leaders, with students, with families, with teachers. I think the team will also use this year as a priority to gather feedback, evaluate our programs, and then use that to plan the next steps to continue to improve. We always strive to be the go-to resource for quality education, and that includes the multilingual department, so we want to make sure we support campuses in delivering on that promise.

TISD’s bilingual program has been expanded to Tomball Intermediate for the 2024-25 school year. Are there any other locations the program will soon be expanded to?

The board has approved expanding the dual language program to sixth grade, and so (this) year the pilot group will begin in fifth grade. So those students and families will transfer to Tomball Intermediate, … where that program is offered. … I’ve actually been able to serve on that campus leadership team this past year and so talk to the great educators on that campus. They’re ready. They’re excited.

What challenges do you expect in your new role and how will you overcome them?

I think the most important thing, especially when working with leaders in this role, is building trust and relationships, both with campus leaders and with faculty, because they are the ones who are actually implementing the programs. We can design a lot of curricula, but if we don’t support the people who are actually delivering it to students, we haven’t achieved our goal.

So I’m confident that I can overcome it because I’ve invested 13 years in building a lot of relationships with the staff. Obviously we have new staff that I’ll get to know and learn with, but in my time here I’ve been very fortunate to work with great teachers and great leaders. So I feel like those investments have been made, those relationships have been built. And that will then help me… maybe with the new people that I may not know yet.