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APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) — A new charter school could soon be coming to the Appleton Area School District.
The creation of HAIS, or Hmong American Immersion School, was approved by the school board on Wednesday. However, weather or not the school will actually come to fruition is dependent on a grant from the state.
While “HAIS” is the abbreviation for Hmong American Immersion School, the word “hais” in Hmong literally means speak; using our voices to positively impact change in our community.
In October of 2023, The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction announced that they had received $58 million from the U.S. Department of Education to support grants to charter schools. The DPI will award grants to applicants as early as June of 2024.
If the district receives a grant, the plan is to have the school ready to open in fall 2025.
For five years, including the one year of planning, $1 million in grant dollars would fund all expenses associated with planning the school and opening in fall 2025.
The focus of the school will be on Hmong history, culture, and language. However, Superintendent Greg Hartjes says curriculum would include all standard subjects like math, English, science and social studies.
“We’re looking at how to teach students all the different skills they need to learn academically, socially, and emotionally through the Hmong ethnicity,” said Hartjes.
The elementary school would serve students in grades 4k-5. A host school for the charter school has not yet been selected. While the school does center around Hmong culture, Hartjes says there’s lots of other reasons families might choose a charter school, like traditionally smaller learning environments.
“Our neighborhood elementary schools are anywhere from 300-600 students, but a lot of our elementary charter schools are more in the range of 150-200 students,” said Hartjes.
Hmong American Immersion School would be the districts 15th charter school after the after The Ọmọladé Academy opens in fall 2024.
If the grant is not awarded this year, the district may still apply for other state and federal grants in the future to fund the school and have it open at a later time.
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