As Launch partners with districts statewide, the need for world language offerings becomes more and more apparent. “Many colleges require students to have two years of foreign language,” says Sara Lile, Launch World Languages teacher. “At universities where it’s not required, it’s highly recommended. We have found that there aren’t enough teachers in the state to meet this need.”

Launch is working to help fill the void. In the beginning we offered Spanish I and II and Japanese I. Fast forward to today, and you’ll find French I–III, Spanish I–III, Japanese I and II and German I and II in our online course catalog. We also offer French I, German I, Japanese I and Spanish I to middle school students.

The Writing Process

Launch courses are built with the Springfield Public Schools curriculum team, teachers and developers. But what happens when Springfield Public Schools doesn’t have a teacher or specialist in a particular content area—for example, German? That’s when our partnerships come into play.

Launch partnered with specialists in the Rockwood School District to write our German courses, and Launch is currently working with Liberty 53 School District to write Chinese. “Prior to partnering with Launch, we were often nervous about where to send our kids that needed a language class for one reason or another,” says Jeff Tamaroff, World Language and ESOL Curriculum Content Facilitator at Rockwood School District. “The ability to partner with Launch has made me much more confident that students will be taking a class that really focuses  on skill building and communication.”

Coming Soon

Chinese I, French IV and Spanish IV are all scheduled to be released for the Spring 2020 semester. While content area specialists for French, Japanese and Spanish work for SPS, Launch works with Shianguu Hsieh from the Liberty school district to write Chinese I.