Academy Family Night popularity grows

Second graders at Lakes International Language Academy (LILA) and their families investigated engineering last week through hands-on projects with their teachers and visiting educators from The Works, a local nonprofit educational organization. Through five discovery centers, students learned about engineering principles by building straw rockets, paper towers, kaleidoscopes, geometric structures, and catapults.  

LILA serves students in grades K-6 in Forest Lake. The school emphasizes bilingualism by immersing students in Spanish or Mandarin Chinese.  

Family Nights have become a regular practice at LILA. School Director Cam Hedlund said, “It’s very exciting to extend the school day in this way and partner with families for the benefit of our students.” LILA’s coursework is designed to meet Minnesota’s academic standards and federal education mandates.

In spring 2009, the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) awarded LILA accreditation in its Primary Years Programme (PYP), making LILA one of 256 IBO World Schools in North America and the Caribbean—and the only PYP school delivering this rigorous curriculum through Spanish and Mandarin Chinese immersion. 

Second graders at Lakes International Language Academy (LILA) and their families investigated engineering last week through hands-on projects with their teachers and visiting educators from The Works, a local nonprofit educational organization. Through five discovery centers, students learned about engineering principles by building straw rockets, paper towers, kaleidoscopes, geometric structures, and catapults.  

LILA serves students in grades K-6 in Forest Lake. The school emphasizes bilingualism by immersing students in Spanish or Mandarin Chinese.  

Family Nights have become a regular practice at LILA. School Director Cam Hedlund said, “It’s very exciting to extend the school day in this way and partner with families for the benefit of our students.” LILA’s coursework is designed to meet Minnesota’s academic standards and federal education mandates.

In spring 2009, the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) awarded LILA accreditation in its Primary Years Programme (PYP), making LILA one of 256 IBO World Schools in North America and the Caribbean—and the only PYP school delivering this rigorous curriculum through Spanish and Mandarin Chinese immersion.