VDLI Testimonials

The VDLI teachers are so special. They work late nights, some are here until 7 or 8 at night. They genuinely love the children, not only doing their job. They go way above and beyond what is expected of them because they genuinely care and are dedicated.

This community is full of love and culture and the unity that people really getting together and the food and coming together and supporting one another and all about our children.

The children being able to keep their language and their roots. There are a lot of children in this generation who come from families who are Vietnamese and don’t speak the language. So it’s definitely important to have this program.

The VDLI program is amazing, not only do the children learn the language, but it’s really about the community also being enriched and the culture. The teachers are phenomenal, I can’t speak highly enough about them. Our principal and the office staff are so genuine and dedicated, they are phenomenal. I love this program with all my heart.

The teachers do a fantastic job teaching the kids in Vietnamese—even the kids (like mine) who don’t know a word of Vietnamese when they start the program. My son likes to know what’s going on and can easily get frustrated when he doesn’t understand something, but the kindergarten teacher for Vietnamese is so talented and expressive and warm that I can’t remember a single time when he was anything but excited about learning and speaking Vietnamese.

A huge unexpected added bonus of the VDLI program has been how much I as a parent have also personally learned and grown by being a part of this VDLI community with amazing people and families with very different life experiences and perspectives. I’m learning as an adult the things my kids are learning and absorbing naturally every day on the playground and in the classroom.

Simply put, I LOVE the VDLI program! I love so many things about the program, but as a white/English speaking family, I am most grateful for the social/cultural experience for my kids. For the kids, this is just school; it’s just normal to be part of a multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-lingual community. And that’s a beautiful thing.

One of our initial concerns was the limited amount of English instruction time because of the Dual Language nature of this program. We are happy to report that our son was the only student from all of Rose City Park (English-only and VDLI programs) selected to participate in the District-wide spelling bee for the 2019 school year. Despite less English instruction time over a 5 -year period, the theory appears to hold true that DLI programs wire children’s brains differently such that they achieve more with less instruction time. We are no longer concerned and if anything, we are extremely impressed!

We are so pleased to see how much our son has achieved in both English and Vietnamese in his first 6 years of school in the VDLI program. The caring teachers have instilled in him a joy of learning. The newly developed curriculum allows him to hold on to his heritage and culture. The parents have even formed a fantastic parent group designed by the community and for the community to help support families. And he has the opportunity to carry his studies ahead for the whole 13 year course of study in the VDLI program in PPS and to potentially earn the Oregon Seal of Biliteracy.

We were initially uncertain how sustainable the program would be when we first started, however, the program has increased its enrollment, staffing and resources for each of the last 6 years. Assessment results have also shown how effective the VDLI program has been with closing the achievement gap. We feel that the school district has made a strong long-term commitment to this program and we are extremely grateful for this opportunity for our family.

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