NEW EAST AFRICAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) announces that a new East African Elementary Magnet School will open in September 2023. The PreK-5 school is being designed in collaboration with members of the East African community who have asked the district for a high-quality, culturally responsive educational program that meets their needs. The school will focus on the cultures and languages of East Africa, specifically the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, and the languages of Somali, Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Arabic and Swahili.
Based on SPPS data on families’ home languages, East African students represent approximately 7.5% of the district’s K-12 enrollment (approximately 2,400 students). According to census data, 2.7% of the population in the Twin Cities metro area speak an East African language at home.