Sisters offers few language options

Last updated 6/6/2006 at Noon

Sisters schools exceed state standards in many areas, but there is one where the district runs with the pack: the delivery of foreign language instruction.

Sisters doesn’t offer any formal foreign language instruction until high school.

There, students may take two levels of Spanish taught by staff and an additional two levels taught through a contract with Central Oregon Community College. In addition, German is offered in rotating years and students can get language credit for taking American Sign Language.

According to curriculum director Lora Nordquist, Sisters’ offerings meet the demand from college-bound students who need foreign language credit for college applications.

That’s about what most schools in Oregon are able to provide.

According to Nordquist, strengthening a foreign language program in Sisters is a big job. To start with, the schools are under pressure to deliver better results in a wide variety of areas: core subjects; career preparation; character education; physical fitness. Foreign language programs have to compete with these and other priorities for scarce resources.

It is commonly accepted that children best learn a foreign language when instruction starts young.

So a program in the elementary school makes sense. But it’s easy to wish for and hard to implement.

“We certainly don’t have the staff to do that,” Nordquist said.

She noted that neither Sisters Elementary School nor Sisters Middle School have staff members fluent in a second language. That means if a program is launched it would probably require hiring an instructor.

“What do you take out to put that in?” Nordquist said.

And once a program is established, it has to be sustained through higher grades or else the students will lose what they’ve learned.

Nordquist said that district staff recognize that Sisters could have a stronger program.

That doesn’t mean there’s a push for action.

“I think it’s an issue for discussion,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a clear impetus.”

So, like the rest of the state, Sisters keeps foreign language instruction several notches down the educational agenda.

That means there’s no prospect that Chinese or Urdu will be heard in the halls of Sisters High School.

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Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.