Appleton may get a Hmong charter school in the future, but plans are still in early stages

APPLETON - A 14th charter school could be coming to the Appleton Area School District, this one offering students an immersive education on Hmong American culture.

The school is still in the planning phases, but the staff and community members working on the plans sketched an outline of what the school could be at a school board work session Wednesday morning.

The school would be called the Hmong American Immersion School, which can be abbreviated HAIS — a Hmong word that means "to speak" — said Maikou Heu, principal of Johnston Elementary, who's part of the team working to develop the school. 

The presentation noted that a formal proposal could be coming in the future, but no formal action was taken by the board on whether it would support the school. 

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Charter schools in this context are public schools authorized by the school district, but with a separate governance board. The district doesn’t spend more on charter than non-charter schools. Generally, they serve one of two purposes: to fill a niche or specific need or to be an experimental school for new teaching strategies.

Any student in the district can apply to the charter school; those out of the district can apply, but would also need to apply for open enrollment, according to the Wisconsin Resource Center for Charter Schools. If there are more applicants than spots available, many schools use a lottery system and waitlists when necessary. 

HAIS would fill a specific need by offering an option that could potentially better serve Hmong students who showed low proficiency rates in reading and math on state tests and offer a cultural curriculum to any student that the existing neighborhood schools don’t offer. 

Thai Xiong, a member of the steering committee and district employee, presented data to the board showing an achievement gap for Hmong students in both reading and math.

HAIS would serve kids from kindergarten through fifth grade and would focus on the same core academics as any other school, such as math, reading and science. But it would also teach the Hmong language, art and culture. There would be a focus on social-emotional learning and social justice, as well as the strong family and community engagement engrained in Hmong culture. 

“HAIS is being culturally responsive to the needs of our students and families,” said Pa Lee Moua, diversity, equity and inclusion officer for the district.

Members of the steering committee conducted a survey of Hmong families throughout the Fox Valley to gauge interest in a Hmong American charter school. Surveys were handed out at family and community events; the committee received more than 200 responses. 

Two questions were asked: Do you want a Hmong charter school? And if there was one, would you send your child there?

Ninety-five percent of respondents said yes, they want a Hmong charter school, and about two-thirds said they would definitely send their child there. 

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Board members had several questions for the HAIS steering committee during the informational presentation at the work session. They asked to clarify the difference between immersion and bilingual schools, what the structure of the day might look like, whether they would need all native Hmong speakers for teachers and what they anticipate enrollment demographics could look like. 

While the work session presentation was only meant to provide a high-level overview of HAIS, the steering committee said it already has answers to many of those questions and could bring that information in a formal proposal. 

Board member James Bacon also asked the committee to consider the location of the school. Charter schools are usually housed within existing schools, so he asked if there was a certain neighborhood or part of town that would lessen transportation barriers for the families who might be most interested in HAIS. 

There is a mid-February deadline for the steering committee to apply for a grant from the Department of Public Instruction, but it would need approval from the board before submitting that application. If plans for HAIS continue, a formal proposal would likely be presented to the board before the application deadline.

Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.