One Hawai'i school on the right track

At least one Hawai'i public school seems to be on the right track - Iroquois Point Elementary School in Ewa Beach has gained accreditation for the prestigious International Baccalaureate primary years program. They are the first public elementary school in the state to achieve this designation, and there are only 341 authorized schools that offer the IB primary years program nationwide.

From the Honolulu Star Advertiser article, 'Everyone is ecstatic' as Ewa Beach school joins elite program:

The rigorous curriculum, which includes teaching children a foreign language, focuses on global citizenship and is designed to lay the educational groundwork — as early as kindergarten — to ready students for college prep courses in high school.

Iroquois Point, which has 720 students, worked for three years to garner the elite title of an IB "world school," overhauling its teaching methods and curriculum and instituting schoolwide professional development.

The designation comes as more primary and middle schools locally and nationally are turning to the elite IB program as a way to create global, bilingual, "transdisciplinary" scholars.

Securing accreditation is tough and requires a big commitment from administrators, teachers, parents and students.

If one school is able to "overhaul its teaching methods and curriculum," why can't others? I hope this serves as an encouragement to other public schools in the state, sending the message that change can happen if the commitment is there.

I think it is terrific that Iroquois Point teaches its students a foreign language in elementary school. I have long felt that US schools should emphasize learning a second language during students' elementary school years - this is the crucial time when children can pick up foreign languages with relative ease and still have the ability to develop native-like speaking skills.

It is so important that Americans learn how to speak more than one language. Most people from other countries already know how to speak more than one language - their native language and English, if not others, too. It seems like almost everyone is at least bilingual - except for us Americans! Our world is rapidly becoming more and more globalized, and the US should equip its students with the ability to compete with others around the world.

I understand that there are challenges, including not enough time in the school day, costs of adding to the curriculum and hiring foreign language teachers, etc. And yes, English is still the language of business - for now. Analysts predict that China will overtake the US as the world's top economy in about 10 years - America's schools should try and start teaching Mandarin Chinese to students as soon as possible...

Hawai'i schools are struggling. It's hard to add on one more thing to their already-full plate of improvements and changes to be made. But it's all necessary if we want to give our kids a fighting chance.