Cabo Verde Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho praised the Cape Verdean Kriolu dual language program at the Lilla Frederick School as Dorchester activist Paulo DeBarros looked on. Seth Daniel photo
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Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho of Cabo Verde joined Boston Public Schools (BPS) officials and Cape Verdean leaders on Monday as they hailed the new Kriolu dual language program at Dorchester’s Lilla Frederick Elementary School.
Carvalho, who was elected in May, led a delegation of leaders from the archipelago nation on a visit the Columbia Road school, which is now home to the first English-Kriolu language program anywhere in the world, according to its proponents.
The class for K-1 students welcomed its first 17 students in September.
“What you are doing here is amazing and this is a historic moment,” Carvalho said in English and Kriolu to a group gathered in the school’s library. “What you’re doing here is something that now in Cape Verde is impossible – teaching the Cape Verdean language. In Cape Verde, we are only discussing it…I would like to say, ‘Thank you.’”
Unlike previous prime ministers, Carvalho has been a staunch advocate for speaking more of the Kriolu language in official capacities and in schools, a popular move for the diaspora in Dorchester. Last Saturday, he gave his first-ever address to the United Nations General Assembly speaking in Kriolu, not Portuguese, which has long been the African nation’s official language.
Dorchester’s Djofa Tavares presented the prime minister with her bi-lingual children’s book and the Cape Verdean Kriolu dictionaries that she helped produce. Looking on was Dr. Joanne DaSilva, program director for Cape Verdean bi-lingual instruction. Seth Daniel photos
“Today was a very historic day,” said Paulo DeBarros, president of the Cape Verdean Association of Boston (CVAB) and a former BPS educator. “It really hits the nail on the head…I’m glad we’re doing this in the heart of the Cape Verdean Dorchester community at the Lilla Frederick. All of the advocacy paid off and I hope it is very successful.”
Lea-Antoinette Serena, vice president of the Boston Teacher’s Union (BTU), said the union fully supports the initiative and would like to see it expand beyond the Frederick.
“We’re really excited about it,” she said. “I grew up with Cape Verdean being my first language, but I don’t speak it as much now and I worry about my kids losing it. This is a program BTU is proud of, and we hope it grows. We would like to see it citywide so families can take full advantage of it.”
A dual language program in Mattapan has proven successful with the Toussaint L’Ouverture Academy within the Mattahunt Elementary School – the first English-Haitian Kreyól dual language program in the United States. Since it was introduced, the Mattahunt has improved and received the 2024 EdVestors School on the Move Prize.
As to the Frederick program, Joelle Gamere, BPS chief of the Office of Multicultural and Multilingual Education, said they are very excited to roll out the new program this year. She noted that they have started with a K1 classroom, will add a K2 classroom next year, and will continue adding each year until there is a full K1-6 dual language pathway within the larger school.
Joelle Gamere, BPS chief of the Office of Multicultural and Multilingual Education.
“As we roll out this program, we also need educators,” she said. “We want our students to have the best and brightest in the community teaching them. We want to make sure this program is a shining light in the community.”
BPS officials also noted there will be a contest in June to choose a name for the program, which will likely be a notable person from Cabo Verde or the diaspora community. Some early names mentioned were Amilcar Cabral, the 1970s freedom fighter for Cape Verdean independence, Manuel Vega, who wrote the first Kriolu dictionary, and Georgette Goncalves, who was one of the first in BPS to advocate for Kriolu bi-lingual education in the 1980s.
Copyright © 2026 Boston Neighborhood News, Inc. This content may not be re-published or re-used without written permission.
