Hmong Heritage Bilingual Program

Madison has been home to the Hmong people since the late 1970s. It has taken more than 40 years for a public school entity to create and adopt a bilingual program that serves one of its most marginalized underrepresented populations of stakeholders.

• In 2016, the MMSD Board of Education approved the English Language Learners (ELL) plan to create a bilingual program for students who are heritage Hmong speakers and to house the program at Lake View.
• In 2017, Lake View became a Hmong Bilingual School and welcomed its first cohort of heritage Hmong speakers in Kindergarten! To date, we teach students to be bilingual and biliterate in Hmong and English in grades kindergarten through fifth!

An effective bilingual program results in improved academic achievement and graduation rates for students. Having native speakers of Hmong and native English speakers with Hmong spoken in their homes provides:

• Authentic opportunities for students to learn from each other
• Build pride in their linguistic and cultural identities
• Encourages them to take risks in using their non-dominant language in a safe linguistic environment

In addition to enhanced academic achievement, bilingual students develop the ability to read, write, and communicate in their first and second languages, which prepares them for full participation in today’s interconnected and increasingly competitive global society. A bilingual program such as ours reflect and honor the linguistic and cultural diversity of our community and prepare students for academic and personal success. We are honored and proud to be a bilingual school.