MONROE — On Monday, Feb. 11, the Board of Education for the School District of Monroe voted 8-0 to approve establishing an elementary Spanish program in all three district elementary schools beginning in the 2019-20 school year, a program made possible from a pledge from the Colony Brands Foundation to fully fund this program for the next four years at a cost of up to $590,000.
The program will be run as a “specials” class in which students receive 30 minutes of Spanish instruction three times a week. The program will start next year with kindergarteners in the district receiving instruction from one traveling teacher that will serve all three elementary schools. In 2020-21, the program will be expanded to kindergarten and first grade, in 2021-22 the program will extend through third grade with two teachers, and in 2022-23 expanded through fifth grade with three teachers.
The program is modeled after a program in the Greendale School District in suburban Milwaukee that has successfully offered this program for a decade, making it one of the only district-wide elementary Spanish programs in the state. Teachers and administrators have visited Greendale twice this year to observe classes along with collaborating with the Department of Public Instruction on best practices in establishing elementary language programs.
Psychological studies have concluded that speaking two or more languages directly correlates to improved academic achievement. In addition to bolstering student achievement, multilingualism speaking two or more languages enhances decision-making, improves networking skills, improves skills in one’s first language, and keeps the mind sharper over a longer life span. According to Eton Institute’s Language Development in the Workforce survey 2014, 89 percent of their clients stated that multilingual employees add value to the workforce and 88 percent stated that recruiting team members with language skills is important to their organization. In 2016, over 16 percent of the United States spoke Spanish and that number is expected to double in the next decade.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our students and our community that would not have been possible without the support of the Colony Brands Foundation,” said Rick Waski, district administrator. “This program will certainly distinguish our district from all other school districts in the state line region.”
The School District of Monroe will accept the Colony Brand Foundation’s donation at the 7 p.m. board meeting on March 11 at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
“The Colony Brands Foundation is committed to supporting our communities by creating opportunities for leadership and advancement,” said Ryan Kubly, president of the Colony Brands Foundation.
“We thrive as a company when our employees and community partners thrive,” John Baumann, president and CEO of Colony Brands Inc., said. “We’re excited to partner with the Monroe Schools again to make a long-term, positive impact in the education of our students.”
The district is searching for a Spanish teacher to get this program started. Interested candidates can apply on WECAN at wecan.education.wisc.edu.
