Photos Teacher Yong Ly. Sai Kahng has four children attending Phalen Lake. Phalen Lake Principal Jan Hopke-Almer says both classes are generating a lot of interest. Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

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St. Paul school will teach Hmong, Spanish to keep students
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
March 31, 2003

Teacher Yong Ly speaks in English and Hmong as she reads a story to her first graders at Phalen Lake Elementary. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

A St. Paul school is launching a new enrichment program that focuses on Hmong language and culture. Phalen Lake Elementary will also offer students the option of a Spanish program. The St. Paul school district already offers several world language options for students, but school leaders say this effort was largely spurred by competition from nearby charter schools.

St. Paul, Minn. — Teacher Yong Ly speaks in English and Hmong as she reads a story to her first graders. Nearly half of the students at Phalen Lake Elementary are Asian. Most of them are Hmong. Ly says her bilingual approach helps students learn.

"When I explain things to them in English, in terms of vocabulary and comprehension, sometimes it's difficult because we're using words that they normally don't hear every day when they're at home," Ly said. "And so when I explain things to them in Hmong, they tend to understand me a lot better when I'm using it in Hmong. Then they pick up the vocabulary faster because of that."

There are other St. Paul elementary schools offering French and Spanish instruction. The city's magnet programs include American Indian and World Cultures. But Hmong parents have been pressing school district leaders to provide more opportunities for children to learn about their native language and culture. More than 30 percent of St. Paul students are Asian. Many parents are worried their heritage will be lost as children become more assimilated. Sai Kahng has four children attending Phalen Lake. She's pleased the East Side neighborhood school is now teaching Hmong.

	Sai Kahng has four children attending Phalen Lake.

"I think it's very important the school teach Hmong language here," Kahng said through an interpreter. "Because in the next ten years, when all the elderly are gone the children will lose the Hmong language. It will be shame or there will be blame for not teaching Hmong language."

Phalen Lake responded to parents' concerns by developing a world language class in Hmong, and another in Spanish. About seven percent of the school's students are Latino. Districtwide it's about 10 percent. Parent Shelly Torres says the Spanish program is already having a big impact on her two children.

"It's really exciting for my kids," Torres said. "They come home every day with something new. New colors in Spanish, or new numbers. They just come home with so much more information. It's great. They're just taking it, they're running with it is what they're doing."

The classes officially begin April 21 as a pilot project in kindergarten through third grades. Fourth, fifth and sixth graders will get to choose a language class next fall. Phalen Lake Principal Jan Hopke-Almer says both classes are generating a lot of interest.

	Phalen Lake Principal Jan Hopke-Almer says both classes are generating a lot of interest.

"And so if we have a class of 20 students, approximately, we're thinking eight will go to Hmong, and eight will go to Spanish," Hopke-Almer said. "And maybe we will have one or two who choose not to participate at this time."

Phalen Lake is also responding to the competition from two neighboring charter schools. Academia Caesar Chavez opened a block away last year with a focus on Latino culture. A charter school targeting Hmong students opened two years ago on the East Side. Hopke-Almer says enrollment this year at Phalen Lake is down 160 students from two years ago.

"It is definitely that we feel it's meeting the needs of the community," Hopke-Almer said. "And so in that way it is a marketing tool also. But it will be academically beneficial for all of our children."

School choice advocates say traditional public schools throughout the country are making similar changes in response to charter school competition. Joe Nathan is director of the University of Minnesota's Center for School Change. He says innovative charter school programs can stimulate improvement throughout the educational system.

"I think controlled competition is a good thing when there's a level playing field," Nathan said. "I'm not in favor of all forms of school choice. But district schools can convert to charter schools. District schools have the ability to adopt and adapt ideas that have worked in charter schools. And frankly, charter schools have the ability to adopt and carry out good ideas that have happened in district schools."

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