As Forest View Elementary teacher Brittany Cullen taught an addition and subtraction lesson in Spanish, her 20 wide-eyed first-graders leaned forward, making sure they caught every word.
When one student didn't understand a Spanish phrase, a friend would lean over and whisper the English interpretation.
"I think that means how many plants are in the forest," one student told a classmate.
"Muy bien," Cullen said.
Forest View and Lake Lino elementary schools added three partial Spanish immersion classes to their curriculum this year in an effort by the Forest Lake School District to expand curriculum and recruit and retain families -- and the per-pupil dollars that come with them. The program is of little additional cost to the district, administrators said.
In immersion programs, students are taught regular subject matter, such as math and geography, in a language other than English.
"There's a lot of research that says immersion students think more fluently and become more flexible thinkers," said Jennifer Tolzmann, the district's director of teaching and learning. "These kids are also thinking about different cultures at a very young age."
Currently, the district offers three first-grade partial-immersion classes, two at Forest View Elementary and one at Lino Lakes. It plans to add a class annually for each grade level, depending on demand, until all grades have an immersion option at both schools.
