They say it is New Orleans’ only public school class in Vietnamese.

WWL-TV

An instructor at the Intercultural School talks to the students.

At the brand new Intercultural Charter School, instructor Tuyen Tran teaches Vietnamese in all the school's classes from Kindergarten to fifth grade.

The founders started with Vietnamese, and plan to add Spanish next year, even perhaps Swahili, using language to show students how big the world is, and help cross cultural boundaries.

“I'm hoping to create a consciousness whereby each student who is looking at a person from another culture would say I think this person is very much apart of my world," said Al Alcazar, Intercultural Charter School Board President.

 ICS Education Coordinator Cam-Thanh Tran added, "If you expose children to a foreign language at an early age, they are like sponges, they can absorb so much faster, and also studies are showing that it helps them develop so much faster."

Four out of ten students at the Intercultural Charter School are Vietnamese, 55-percent are African American, with Caucasian, Hispanic and other races included in the student population. Most are from the surrounding New Orleans east neighborhood.

"We're saying to the different people from the different cultures and their children, come, there's a way for us to make each other's culture our home," Alcazar stated.

The curriculum emphasizes math, language arts, and science, with monthly testing and special help for students having problems. There are 250 students, with waiting lists for spots in Kindergarten, fourth and fifth grades.

"Oh my gosh! It is so exciting to see all the little faces, and they are so excited," Cam-Thanh Tran said with a smile.

They plan to serve grades Kindergarten through eight, so they'll add one grade a year until they reach that point. But opening a new school is a huge task, and they've been depending on a lot of help from the community for equipment and other needs.

"We really need like a copier, we need laminating machines," said Cam-Thanh Tran.

Among the 24 staff members are brand new teachers who decided to be part of the New Orleans recovery, like first grade instructor Julia Dezen, who trained at Harvard, and teaches here. It was her first day, and she smiled with excitement.

"I think that right now is a critical moment in New Orleans schools,” Dezen said. “These students deserve the best education that they can get, and there are many people working very hard to make sure they can get it. I'm having a fantastic time."

The Intercultural Charter School is also seeking a new location, as the ten classrooms now in use are being leased from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. To help meet school needs, call 662-0220.