Empowering AACPS IB Schools with Virtual Language Instruction

Languages are an integral part of International Baccalaureate World Schools, so when faced with staffing shortages, IB directors are tasked with a difficult challenge: how will we provide language instruction without qualified educators?

Virtual Live Lessons: Overcoming Skepticism and Building Confidence

Mary Austin, the IB director for Anne Arundel County Public School district, entered the 2023-2024 school year with the same problem. Naturally, AACPS wanted more than a quick fix. They needed a robust solution that could support K through 5th grade. That’s where Meg Languages came in.

Like most educators, Mary came to the first meeting with a bit of hope and skepticism about virtual live lessons. However, at the end of her talks with our team, she began to see how Meg Languages could be the key to overcoming her district’s constraints.

With our supportive customer success team ready to support the school’s onboarding process, tech issues, schedule adjustments, and curriculum questions, Mary felt confident partnering with Meg Languages.

“Meg not only provides a trained professional to deliver engaging language instruction to students, but also a K-5 cohesive curriculum that prepares students for success in future language learning opportunities.”
– Stacy Komsa, IB PYP Coordinator for AACPS

Fostering a Love for Language and Culture

Working alongside the AACPS IB PYP coordinator, Meg Languages coordinated 53 lessons a week across two elementary schools. Students from kindergarten through 5th grade received 25 minutes of live instruction via Zoom, enabling students to learn many different facets of learning a language.

Whether it’s via encouraging words, appropriate pacing, supporting their curiosity, or building up confidence, Spanish instructors strived to help students enjoy the process of learning a language while building cultural awareness.

“Our Spanish teacher is amazing. She is so engaging and the students love her. She’s done a great job with the students, her tone and pace are great.”
– Third Grade Teacher at Tracey’s Elementary School, AACPS

Building Strong Teacher Partnerships

Unlike other language learning programs, Meg Languages is very collaborative. We understand that not every school is the same and that teachers play an important part in our success in delivering virtual lessons for their students.

Our customer success team works closely with classroom teachers to ensure they feel confident in supporting real-time virtual lessons—enhancing the learning experience for students. From before the first lesson, our team works with teachers to ensure they can navigate and utilize additional resources available.

“At Meg, we want to lift the burden of facilitating teachers by providing them access to all the vocabulary and key concepts covered in the live lesson.”
– Emily Hopkins, Customer Success Manager

By being available to answer questions, teachers feel comfortable supporting students during their live lessons with the Spanish instructor.

Meg Languages is proud to partner with AACPS and delivers enriching Spanish lessons to over 1,325 students. We hope to help more IB schools across the United States who are facing similar challenges. Connect with us to explore how we can support your language learning goals!