District 102 to keep Spanish, offer new languages at elementary level

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Updated: February 13, 2012 1:57AM

Beginning in March, a group of La Grange Elementary District 102 fifth-graders will pilot the Rosetta Stone web-based program to study Spanish, French and Italian.

The School Board reviewed a revision of the district’s foreign language program at the elementary level Dec. 8, which will continue Spanish instruction in kindergarten through fourth grade, as a number of parents and board members requested.

But the following year, students will take one trimester of Spanish and may choose French or Italian one trimester and a non-Romance language, such as German or Chinese, the remaining trimester.

In sixth grade, students must choose one language to study for the next three years. Instruction will be delivered through the Rosetta Stone and other computer programs, classroom foreign language teachers, project-based learning units and conversation sessions led by native speakers.

To increase the rigor and effectiveness of the program, students will be given an hour of homework a week in sixth grade and letter grades for those in fourth grade and up, as well as other improvements.

Board members saw an interactive Rosetta Stone demonstration of lessons in Spanish, including a visual representation of a native speaker’s pronunciation compared with the demonstrator’s words. There also was a detailed report showing hours spent logged in doing lessons and correct answers on each unit.

Board member Joyce Fitch, who has taken Rosetta Stone courses in French and German, said she is excited about new opportunities for students.

“I’m incredibly pleased with the fact that this is so conversationally-based,” Fitch said. “It also makes parents, kids and the teacher partners. You can move so deep into this if you want to, or help children at home.”

The first of a four-phase program will begin in March for $10,000, piloting the Rosetta Stone method in one fifth-grade class at each elementary building. Two buildings will study Spanish, one will explore Italian and one will learn French.

Details weren’t discussed on how students for the pilot will be selected, or which buildings will be exposed to French or Italian.

In 2012-13, all fifth-graders will choose two languages to study in addition to Spanish for the second phase costing $26,700. In 2013, sixth-graders will select one language on which to concentrate; the third phase will cost $47,400.

The fourth phase in 2014-15 costs $69,000 a year and includes smart boards and Rosetta Stone components for kindergarten through fourth-graders.

Lori Gehrke, assistant superintendent for instruction, said the choice of languages at an earlier age will benefit students as they enroll in Lyons Township High School, which offers French, Spanish, German, Italian, Latin and Chinese.

A survey of 28 former Park Junior High Students showed 17 wished they would have had the opportunity to explore languages in addition to French and Spanish in District 102. Fifteen students said they felt well prepared to do well in foreign language classes.

Formal board approval isn’t needed to begin the pilot program in the spring, because the funds for it are already part of the foreign language budget, said Superintendent Warren Shillingburg.

Board President Dave May said he appreciated how the changes would be phased in gradually without a significant impact on the district’s budget for the first three phases.