FLES is an approach to language learning that allows students to develop basic communicative skills in a language while reinforcing and enriching content in other disciplines. Providence provides FLES to students in grades first through sixth in the language of Chinese.

The FLES model provides all students in an elementary school with language learning opportunities. Research studies have indicated that the early study of a second language results in cognitive benefits, gains in academic achievement, and increases in self-esteem, creativity, and positive attitudes toward diversity.

FLES instruction is proficiency-oriented. This means that there is a greater focus on meaningful and purposeful communication than on grammatical mastery. Students are encouraged first to understand and then to produce in the language. The target language is used by both teachers and students