Welcome to the Hayes Bilingual School website. Learn about our school and consider meeting us in person for a tour or open house.
But first: My name is Gabriel Lopez Jauregui and I’m honored to return to Hayes Bilingual School for my fifth year as principal. This building has been a fixture in my life since childhood. My family is from León, Guanajuato, I grew up in Milwaukee’s Historic Mitchell St. neighborhood, and attended Kosciuszko Junior High in this building.
I believe in the power and promise of a strong bilingual education because I am a product of it myself, as are my two sons.
Children who grow up in bilingual homes or learn in bilingual classrooms demonstrate flexibility and adaptability, qualities that help us connect with others, solve challenges on the playground or in the workplace, and learn new content easier and faster at any age.
For example, a principal’s job can change from hour to hour. In just one day, I might meet with several families, review the school budget, interview teacher candidates, check out the new fabrication equipment in our Project Lead The Way laboratory, send our sponsor a thank-you note and help teachers load the busses. I’m back at my desk by 3:30 p.m. to answer emails, review test scores, and maybe eat my lunch (!) before a Hayes Bilingual School family event at 6 p.m. Growing up in two cultures, learning in two languages, being flexible and staying focused – this background makes it possible for me to wear the many hats of a school principal.
Another thing that makes this work possible: An incredible team of licensed and certified teachers, academic specialists, and school-support staff.
Our teachers passionately support bilingual education and warmly welcome parents as partners on their child’s academic journey.
Parents gather in our Family Resource Center, volunteer at the Hayes Bilingual School Annual Science Fair (returning for a 28th year in February 2024), our annual holiday and talent shows, and serve on our School Engagement Council.
Our students proudly retain their first language, share their cultural heritage, and confidently learn a second language and core academic content. They meet State of Wisconsin academic expectations on our school report card, most recently in 2022-23 and 2021-22, and earn recognition for their behavior from the Response to Intervention Center (2022-23). Beyond the school day, students display their projects at regional and national STEM competitions, and connect to the wider Milwaukee community as athletes, folkloric dancers, and future engineers. Teachers integrate STEM studies into literacy and language lessons. Engineers, mentors and volunteers from Molson Coors, Generac, and the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee support our two on-campus technology laboratories, STEM enrichment programs, and inspire our students.
By their eighth-grade graduation, many of these students will be biliterate and bilingual scholars. They will be ready for high school and so much more: college, career, global citizenship. No matter how far they go, Hayes Bilingual School alumni know they will always be part of our familia. They are our future. Sometimes, they even return to their alma mater as a parent, a teacher, or even a principal.
Sincerely,
Gabriel Lopez Jauregui
Principal, Hayes Bilingual School