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St. Louis Language Immersion Schools
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The Chinese School
Everybody was nervous when St. Louis Language Immersion Schools opened its newest program last August. “Chinese is hard!”—but not for 5-year-olds, it turns out. Soon, students were writing Chinese characters and correcting each other in Chinese.
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The Chinese School
At SLLIS, being bilingual is only the beginning: Students learn every subject in their new second language. More schools are planned, as are smaller language programs—look for instruction in Japanese, German, Russian, Persian, Arabic… There’s also a rich extracurricular program called Mosaic. At left, Yamin Wu teaches students yoga.
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The Chinese School
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The Chinese School
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The Spanish School
SLLIS opened in 2009 with the French and Spanish schools. Each year, they add a grade.
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The Spanish School
At left, Jose Manuel Castro-Chavez teaches kindergarteners math—with- out slipping into English. Students won’t even study reading in English until the end of second grade.
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The Spanish School
The Spanish School is serious about academics, but also famous for its parties, with food in every classroom, dancing, two piñatas (because the parents wanted their own), and soon, mariachi for graduation.
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The Spanish School
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The French School
SLLIS founder Rhonda Broussard gets excited about the careers open to students in the French School—they’re learning the language of diplomacy. And all of the SLLIS schools use the International Baccalaureate program, which is known around the world for the rigor of its intellectual preparation, as well as the fun of its hands-on learning.
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The French School
Each of the schools has its own personality, and The French School tends to be more reserved, celebrating with violin and piano, cocoa and desserts.
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The French School
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The French School
Photography by Jennifer Silverberg.
Who said kids have to study in English? At St. Louis Language Immersion Schools, they’re submersed in a new language in kindergarten.
Click HERE to read read an exclusive feature on SLLIS’ new program, The Chinese School, to learn how teachers took bewildered 5-year-olds from chaos to perfect discipline and acculturation in two months. Next up, in fall 2014, the International School opens; it will eventually go through grade 12.
