St. Louis Language Immersion School

Brief History The St. Louis Language Immersion Schools, Inc. (SLLIS) was founded in 2007. SLLIS is a non-profit charter school funded primarily by the state of Missouri and guided by an agreement with SLLIS’ primary sponsor, the University of Missouri-St. Louis. SLLIS opened The French School and The Spanish School in 2009 for kindergarten through fifth grade. The Chinese School, also serving K-5, opened in 2012. The International School, for sixth through eighth grade students, opened in 2014. In January 2017, the SLLIS Board of Directors voted to reconfigure the four schools into one K-8 school, running three different dual language immersions programs in Chinese, French and Spanish. SLLIS operated on various campuses for many years. In February 2018, the SLLIS Board of Directors adopted the Gomez and Gomez Dual Language Enrichment Model, further structuring how SLLIS addresses dual language immersion instruction. SLLIS’ current Superintendent, Dr. Meghan Hill, began in her role in June 2018, and immediately began to build capacity in the SLLIS leadership team and staff. In December 2018, the SLLIS Board of Directors purchased SLLIS' current facility at 1881 Pine Street, and all SLLIS programs moved to this location for the 2019-2020 school year. With support from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust, SLLIS established a fenced outdoor courtyard area in its new downtown location for student outdoor play. A member of the St. Louis Pre-K Cooperative, SLLIS launched two Pre-Kindergarten classrooms for 3 and 4-year-olds in an innovative, collaborative approach to early childhood education. The Pre-K Cooperative is a collaborative effort between SouthSide Early Learning Center, a community-based early childhood education agency, and several charter schools, including SLLIS. Both Pre-K classrooms are housed on SLLIS’ campus, and seats are accessible to families who qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch as well as to families who pay tuition.