Support Spanish and Mandarin Immersion Program in Lake Oswego

As part of its “Strategic Initiatives,” the Lake Oswego School District is considering adding Spanish and Mandarin immersion programs. A public hearing on the proposals will be held at 6 pm on Monday, 1/30/12, just prior to the Lake Oswego School Board meeting at 7 pm (here). The Lake Oswego School Board should, of course, move ahead with this modest immersion proposal.

The group “Advocates for World Languages at LOSD” has asked the following (here):

We ask that Lake Oswego School District expand elementary world language programs in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese starting Fall 2012, for the following reasons:

• New Revenue: Language immersion programs will help our school district combat declining enrollment and support existing programs. Every new student at LOSD brings between $6500- $8500 in revenue. If we can grow our elementary student population, we will be in a better position to protect and potentially expand existing programs (PE, Music, etc).

• Doing nothing has a cost: More families will take advantage of statewide transfer legislation and leave LOSD for new language immersion programs at Portland, Beaverton and West Linn. The district will make boundary decisions this winter that will impact the ability to plan for language immersion in the long term. We should put the children first, and move forward without delay.

• Equity in student populations: If LOSD decides to offer language immersion at River Grove Elementary, this may require portables to support additional students. Increasing the capacity at River Grove will bring it on par with the size of schools in the rest of the district. More students at River Grove will mean a stronger PTO and the ability to raise funds to support the entire school (technology, etc).

• Our group is strong and growing: 224 families representing 400 children have signed a petition asking LOSD for language immersion programs. Parents have been asking for these programs for over four years. We know our efforts will result in programs that will better serve children at LOSD.