Beloved dual-language program threatened at Thurston Co. school. Parents spoke up
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- District decided to make no changes to Pleasant Glade’s dual-language program.
- District had proposed moving Pleasant Glade dual-language students to Mountain View.
- Dual-language classes at Pleasant Glade are 50% in English and 50% in Spanish.
Area parents mobilized quickly in response to a North Thurston proposal to eliminate a dual-language program at an area elementary school, and that effort paid off on Wednesday after the district agreed not to take that step.
The decision not to eliminate the program was announced by the Pleasant Glade Elementary principal and confirmed by a district official and parents.
“Thank you for the thoughtful conversation and advocacy for the Dual Language Program at Pleasant Glade,” said Principal Jessica Flanick in an email that was forwarded to The Olympian. “I am happy to share that we have decided to keep the program at Pleasant Glade moving forward!
“I am deeply sorry for the uncertainty this issue caused for families. We as a district must make difficult staffing decisions each year, but it is clear the program can thrive at Pleasant Glade. I ask for your ongoing advocacy and help spreading the word about the program to families in our community!
“We strive to have a program that includes both native Spanish and English speakers and will continue to work toward that goal,” she said.
Three district elementary schools – Lydia Hawk, Pleasant Glade and Mountain View – offer the dual-language program, which offers 50% instruction in English and 50% in Spanish, but the district also wants it to have the right balance of native English speakers and Spanish speakers to make it a more immersive program.
Dual language at Pleasant Glade is offered in kindergarten and first grade; second grade will be added next year. Ideally, the district would like to have 24 students in each class per grade, said district spokeswoman Amy Blondin, but according to district data they have not met that target.
For example, current enrollment in the first-grade program is 19 students, 14 of which are English speakers while five others either speak Spanish or another language, Blondin said.
Because of low enrollment, the district had proposed closing the Pleasant Glade program and moving those students to Mountain View Elementary, which is about three miles south of Pleasant Glade on College Street. Pleasant Glade is north of 15th Avenue Northeast.
Parents quickly balked at that proposal.
“For many of us, this is a broken promise,” said parent Jeremy Sorokas in an email to The Olympian. “My family, like several others, purchased our home in this specific neighborhood explicitly because of the district’s commitment to the dual language track at Pleasant Glade.”
Jeremy and other parents took their concerns to the school board meeting on May 19, and then met with school officials again on May 21.
“We’re not here to fight the district,” said Sorokas at the school board meeting. “We’re here because we believe in this program, and want to work with you to get this right.”
Teena Williams, a single working mother with two children, one of whom is in the dual-language program, had no idea, logistically, how she was going to accommodate two children at separate schools if one needed to go to Mountain View.
She welcomed Wednesday’s announcement.
“I’m so happy,” she said, adding that she was shocked by the outcome. “It goes to show what a bunch of parents can do.”
Sorokas welcomed it, too.
“It’s great news, great for the kids and great for the community,” he said.
Both parents suggested ideas that might help grow enrollment among Spanish speakers.
The district has a dedicated webpage for the dual-language program, and although some of it’s in Spanish and there’s a translation tool on the site, Sorokas would like to see a dedicated page in Spanish, he said.
Williams said she’s prepared to get the word out and promote the program, either at a park or library. She thinks other parents will do the same because the first-grade parents have become a tight-knit group, she said.
She also thinks that the current immigration environment may have created some reluctance among Spanish speakers to come forward and participate in such a program, preferring instead to “lay low,” Williams said.
“We will fight hard to make sure it stays stable and has longevity,” she said.
