Results of the Foreign Language Survey

On Wednesday, April 27th, Debbie Campbell and Andrea Ehlers met with Sarah Harrington and Cathy McCleskey to discuss the results of the Foreign Language Survey.  We had 186 responses, which is a 33% response rate (Horn has approximately 560 students).  Of those responses, the largest response came from the 1st grade parents (49 responses), with 2nd grade (36 responses) and Kindergarten (35 responses) trailing close behind.

Ms. Harrington was very receptive to the survey results and made special note of the fact that the overwhelming majority of parents (180) asked to have a Foreign Language become part of the Academic Curriculum at Horn.  This was discussed at length and many options were examined, such as making a Foreign Language part of the Language Arts Component at Horn or treating a Foreign Language as an ancillary class.  However, the deadline to change the Magnet Program at Horn has passed (it was in February) and we still want to have music offered when  a Music Teacher is hired, so we agreed (and Ms. Harrington approved) that we would offer a Foreign Language option after school for the 2005-2006 school year.  We will conduct another survey in the Fall to see if parents still want to change a Magnet component at Horn to a Foreign Language, and we will proceed based on those results.

At this time, based on the survey results (150 of 186 selected Spanish as their first choice), it looks like Spanish will be offered.  Depending on the interest level, French may be a possibility.  We have identified 2 rooms for potential use.  We have selected a vendor, Jovencitos/Les Gamins - Early Language Learners.  The have been teaching an after school enrichment program for 5 years at various schools & daycares and they have excellent references.  They were highly recommended by one of the First Grade parents.  The owner will meet with Ms. Harrington on May 6 and we anticipate that enrollment forms and more information will go out in a couple of weeks in the red folders.  The cost will be $45 per month per child and there are no additional fees for books or supplies.  Classes will be offered for 1 hour once per week.

The VIPS Committee would like to thank Debbie Campbell for her hard work in developing and monitoring the survey database and extracting the results to Excel and Sarah Bittner for entering many, many paper surveys into the database.  These ladies did tremendous work!   The following Moms also provided input and encouragement during this process:  Karen Coles, Trina Feig, Lynn McCarley, and Erin Diaz.  Thanks to these ladies as well!

Full survey results may be found in a folder next to the VIPS computer station.  Thanks, Parents, for all your feedback and I hope that the after school Foreign Language program will meet the needs of your children.

Sincerely,
Andrea Ehlers, VIPS Chair