A big change for the Spanish Immersion program in Duluth. It’s been at Lowell Elementary since 2016.

Starting next year, it will be expanded to Myers-Wilkins Elementary.

The principal at Myers-Wilkins has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and has taught the language in a previous district.

If you live in the Myers-Wilkins, Stowe, Laura MacArthur, Congdon Park, or Lester Park boundaries, you’ll be attending Myers-Wilkins.

If you live in the Lowell, Piedmont, Homecroft or Lakewood boundaries, your school will continue to be Lowell.

Lowell is currently over capacity, with around 630 students currently enrolled. The school was designed for about 500. This has caused some issues with traffic congestion on Rice Lake Road, not to mention overcrowding in classrooms.

“We’re over capacity. We’ve done some things. We’ve expanded the lunchroom. We’ve turned areas that are meant as common areas into classrooms,” says Duluth Superintendent John Magas, “Lowell is bursting at the seams due to the popularity of the Spanish immersion programming.”

Currently there’s around 325 students enrolled in the Spanish program. Magas says about 125 to 150 will end up at Myers-Wilkins starting in the fall of 2025.

Parents were notified on the change on January 8 through a school newsletter. Some weren’t pleased with the way the district chose to make the announcement.

“No one that I’ve talked to had any idea this was going to happen. No inkling. There was no, you know, discussion or I had never heard that it was going to expand. And while I think expansion is really great to be, you know, have this sweeping decision that affects an entire population of students and parents and find out via newsletter, that’s very disheartening.” Said Amy Blake, who’s son attends Lowell’s Spanish program. She says other parents she talked to were angry that there was no discussion with parents about the change.

Magas says parents were informed the same day as staff and the general public. While he said the transition could be difficult for some families, the alternative is continued overcrowding at Lowell.

“I think if we didn’t expand to other schools, there would be continued hardship,” Magas said, “and it would probably get worse because, again, Lowell is expanding.”