As Parker County continues to see growth and new development opportunities, AISD board members and administrators look at growth opportunities in classes, and a projected increase in student population would require expanded course options and campus space. With students required to take four semesters of a language other than English course, more variety could be on the horizon for the Bearcats.
As of now, five language courses are offered with German, Latin, and French available online and Spanish and American Sign Language available on campus in person, and counselor and former Spanish teacher Maggie Alexander said these courses are a benefit for students in various ways.
“Language other than English classes should be required because they are important to open students’ eyes to certain cultures and give students language access,” Alexander said. “Taking advantage of trying out a language can be really daunting, but good for practice.”
TXVSN hosts 7 languages, including ASL, Chinese, French, German, Latin, Spanish, and Computer Science, via code. Although several are already offered, languages can expand if more were added to the online language classes hosted on TXVSN.
“I want to learn Japanese so I can travel there and explore their culture in the future,” Spanish student Benjamin Hungerford said. “Although if the school offered it, I don’t think I would take it because it’s more of a hobby, and I wouldn’t use it outside of the trip.”
When picking a language to take during high school, most choose between Spanish or a course taught on TxVSN. Spanish teacher Mrs. Walker said that instead of diversifying the options of LOTEs, we should expand on existing ones.
“A new ‘Spanish for Heritage’ class would probably be more beneficial, covering more expanded Spanish and various regional differences that you would experience in Spanish-speaking countries,” Spanish teacher Gillian Walker said. “I don’t know how much of a market there is for full-time teachers. TxVSN will probably still stay dominant.”
On-campus courses have more students at 3:2, but should the need arise, Alexander said expansion is not out of the question so long as there is space for adequate learning.
“Adding more LOTE classes would be wonderful, but I don’t know if the school has enough space,” Alexander said. “Maybe at least one more should be offered or transferred to an in-person classroom.”
