EHSI Online Frequently Asked Questions

Eagle Heights Online is a full-day, fully-virtual school choice option for students across the state of Minnesota. For the 2023-24 school year, our school will offer kindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade. We plan to add a grade each year, meaning in 2024-25 we will offer kindergarten through grade four, and in 2025-26 we will be a full K-5 elementary school.

No. Eagle Heights Online follows the enrollment process of our district’s neighborhood schools, and there is not a lottery held to determine enrollment. Call 952-975-7008 or visit edenpr.org/enroll to start the enrollment process!

No; Eagle Heights Online is a free enrollment option for students across the state of Minnesota.

Because Eagle Heights Online is an immersion school, all students need to be able to speak, read and write in Spanish at grade level. For that reason, we invite families who are interested in enrolling for grades above kindergarten to have their child tested for Spanish proficiency. An Eagle Heights teacher will meet with your child on a video call and guide them through reading, writing and speaking games.

If your child meets grade-level Spanish proficiency, we will be excited to welcome them to Eagle Heights Online! If they do not, you might be interested in enrolling in EP Online, our district’s comprehensive online school for kindergarten through grade 12. EP Online offers Spanish classes for elementary, middle and high school students.

Yes! Eagle Heights Online offers the same student supports you would find at our physical school, including individualized support for students with specific learning needs. If you have questions about your child’s particular needs, please call our school principal at 952-975-7711.

Children at Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion learn Spanish at the same time they are learning other subjects, because their instruction in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and health happens in Spanish. Language practice happens throughout the day as students communicate with their teachers and each other.

In the early years of immersion, our teachers know that students will not understand everything they say. To help students understand, they use many other strategies to support student learning, such as visuals, body language, exaggerated facial expressions, and making their voices expressive. Children usually start to communicate with each other and their teacher using a mixture of English and the words and phrases they have practiced in Spanish. As students acquire more Spanish, they are encouraged to use it more, and eventually, they communicate fully in Spanish while at school.

Gaining a high level of proficiency in another language brings many benefits to children. In terms of cognitive abilities, fully-proficient bilingual people outperform monolingual people in the areas of divergent thinking, pattern recognition, and problem solving (Fortune, 2012). They also have higher skills in selectively focusing their attention, interpreting non-verbal communication, and thinking about how language works, which further helps them in acquiring additional languages.

In terms of academic achievement, over 30 years of studies consistently show that immersion students achieve as well or better than non-immersion peers on standardized tests of verbal and mathematics skills conducted in English (Fortune & Tedick, 2003). In our global economy, being proficiently bilingual and developing intercultural competency opens up a multitude of opportunities for bilingual/biliterate students and adults, including employment possibilities. It also gives people opportunities to communicate with a wider range of people and learn about other cultures and perspectives, leading to a new understanding of oneself.

Eagle Heights Online uses the same curriculum as in-person Eden Prairie Schools elementary schools, but the content is taught in Spanish. The only exception is specials (music, art, physical education, and a culture-focused Spanish class), which are taught in English.

By the end of fifth grade, most students will be functionally proficient in writing, reading and speaking Spanish.

In general, we believe that homework should never be new learning for a student, but instead intended to practice a skill or concept that has been introduced and practiced during the school day. One of the best ways to help your child is to read to them daily in English.

When additional support is required from adults who are supporting learning at home, immersion teachers use a variety of methods to make this possible for non-Spanish speakers, like creating English translations of homework instructions. Additionally, teachers may set up a “buddy network” where students have homework buddies who can be called on for help with details of homework assignments after regular school hours. All communication between you and your child’s teacher will be in English, unless you prefer it to be in Spanish.

Students at Eagle Heights Online learn to read and write in English in third grade. All children need the same skills to learn to read, no matter the language. Because most of our students have an English background, some will naturally apply their reading skills from Spanish to English without much formal instruction. Others need a bit more formal instruction before they can transfer these skills. Either way, all students are fully able to read, write and speak in both English and Spanish by the end of fifth grade.

During the first few months of school, we ask that you are available to your child to help log onto our class calls and find resources in our learning app, Schoology. By a few weeks into the year, you will be surprised how quickly your child learns to do these things on their own! By January of their kindergarten year, most students do not need much help from their caregivers during a normal school day.

No! In Eagle Heights Online, students learn with peers from across the state of Minnesota. Our teachers purposely encourage students to interact with each other in small groups, and some of our current families even meet up with others outside of class.

Our experienced teachers know how to keep students engaged online. That might mean asking them to go touch something in their house that’s yellow, then come back to the computer and tell the class what it was, or doing a show-and-tell with pets in the house. Our day is also intentionally structured to give kids a break: Lunch and recess is a time for kids to go outside or spend time with family, and specials taught in English give students a break from Spanish.