St. Louis, Mo. (March 18, 2025) March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and St. Louis Language Immersion School (SLLIS) is raising awareness about the unique educational opportunities the school provides for students with developmental disabilities. SLLIS Special Programs Director, Dr. Lisa Tariq, reflected on studies that have shown that not only can children with disabilities learn a second language, it also improves their socialization, increases brain development and leads to increased academic success.
Part of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month is emphasizing and encouraging the participation of people with disabilities in the communities in which they live. Dr. Tariq said students who receive special education services still receive the full range of general education opportunities as their peers with the help of their robust support staff. SLLIS uses a Dual Language Immersion model, where students learn their subjects in two languages, English and a target language of either Chinese, French or Spanish. The Special Programs department currently serves approximately 150 students at SLLIS based on individual needs, whether receiving services in Special Education, ELL or intervention support.
“One of our core values in the Special Programs department at SLLIS is to commit to supporting our students and teachers,” Dr. Tariq said. “Regardless of a student’s disability, we have so many different professionals on staff that can help students achieve their goals. Every student is looked at individually, and accommodations are made to students based on the recommendations and expertise of our staff. SLLIS implements a very rich program for all students, no matter if you have a disability or not.”
Dr. Tariq said the key to having a great Special Programs team is an extremely robust and highly skilled staff. SLLIS’ Special Programs Team boasts a Director, Psychologist, three Paraprofessionals, two Special Education teachers, two ELL teachers, an Interventionist, a Behavioral Health Therapist, a Speech-Language Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist and Nurse.
“I am so proud of our team’s commitment to meeting the individualized needs of our students and we can really see the difference it makes for them as well,” Dr. Tariq said. “For a child with a learning disability, learning a second language might feel like an impossible task, but we love to see the confidence it gives them when they realize they can while working on individual goals at the same time. We use a Multi-Tiered Systems framework to support students with varying levels of needs and challenges through our Student Success Team (SST) process. Having an extremely robust Special Programs team where each individual specialist is accessible at all times and the parent involvement is there, too, truly makes SLLIS a special place where we will be able to meet your child’s needs.”
About St. Louis Language Immersion School
St. Louis Language Immersion School was founded in 2009 and is a charter school serving Pre-K through 8th grade to the City of St. Louis. The school provides students with a world-class, global, dual language immersion education in French, Spanish or Chinese, taught by native speakers. The one of a kind school was named the 2024 Best Public Charter School in Missouri and plays an essential role in the fabric of the St. Louis community. For more information, go to www.sllis.org.