Rocky Boy implements language immersion program

A language immersion program within the Rocky Boy School District meant to teach pre-kindergartners the Cree language and increase their readiness for kindergarten is looking to accept up to 20 children for the fall.  

Jackie Morsette, the program’s early childhood development coordinator, said the Rocky Boy Native American Children in Schools program is funded with a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition.

A former teacher for Box Elder Schools, Morsette said when students are screened for kindergarten they are often not prepared. She said as a result, teachers spend the first two months making up in areas where students lag behind. This then affects the students as they move forward into other grades.

Morsette said she is also creating intervention groups to help teachers make sure students are up to grade level in reading and writing.  

Morsette said the program aims to boost state standardized test scores, increasing WIDA scores by 25 percent and the Smarter Balanced test scores by 10 percent both within five years.

She said each class will have both a Cree instructor and a certified teacher teaching lessons in both English and Cree. Lessons will include numbers, colors and the names of animals as well as simple words.

Studies show students who know more than one language perform better on standardized tests, Morsette said. She added that ages 1-5 are when the minds of children absorb the most knowledge.

The program also seeks to increase the number of Cree speakers. Morsette said it is important children learn Cree because the reservation has only 128 fluent Cree speakers. Most of those speakers are elders, Morsette said, and when they die so will the language.

Morsette said the program started in January with 12 students and is seeing its intended effect. She said in the first five-months-long semester, assessments conducted of students showed 9 out of 12 were ready for kindergarten.

Parents who want to sign their children up for the program can ask for an application at the front desk at Rocky Boy Elementary School.