School Spotlight: New Millennium Academy
New Millennium Academy in Brooklyn Center was founded in 2005 and serves the growing Hmong population in the northwest metro. About 750 students attend the K-8 charter school and 85 percent of the scholars are Hmong.
“We want our identity to be known and we’re a Hmong culture and language school,” explained Business Director Kevin Xiong. “There’s a very high population of Hmong in the North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park area.”
Merging Culture and Academics
Students get the required math, English, and technology classes, but they are also taught Hmong tradition, art and history.
Chee Xiong is one of two Hmong studies teachers at the school. Her class fosters cultural pride and identity.
“Nowadays, I feel like students are very uncomfortable about who they are,” said Xiong. “A lot of students are forgetting who they are.”
For 45 minutes each day, students are immersed in the Asian culture, learning conversational vocabulary.
The class is also closing the generation gap between younger and older family members.
“I like how I learn more words so I can speak more words to my Hmong,” said Student Andy Vue.
Teachers and staff at New Millennium say they want to change the world by building strong leaders for the future.
“It starts now and our hope is that the learning, and the academic that we teach and the morale and morals and ethics that we teach our scholars today will make an impact in our world,” said Kevin Xiong.
