Dear Parents, Community Members and VAIS Supporters,

We are respectfully asking you to support the five-year Charter renewal of the only Mandarin-immersion elementary school in Wisconsin. The Verona Area International School (VAIS) was created in 2010 by parents, teachers and community members who believe in the value of language immersion at a young age, and that families should have a choice in selecting the best school for their children. Six years later, VAIS is thriving, its students are flourishing academically, and it is a valued choice among families in the Verona Area School District (VASD). Our students consistently score higher than the district average on standardized tests each year and they are learning Mandarin.

Our current 5-year charter will expire at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. The Verona Area School Board will vote on the charter renewal in early December 2016. We need your support to renew the VAIS Charter. Please sign this petition as a current or future parent of VAIS, a community member or a supporter. Your signature shows the School Board Members that their community, constituents and neighbors support VAIS and the positive impacts it has on our students, families, school district and the State of Wisconsin.

• VAIS students succeed
• VAIS students embrace diversity and inclusion
• VAIS draws families to VASD
• VAIS demonstrates equity: world-class education available to all VASD students
• VAIS teachers encourage individualized learning

VAIS is a free public charter school, open to students from any ethnic or racial background, income level and VASD neighborhood.The VAIS mission is to provide students the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to be successful in our increasingly global society. Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in the world. Mandarin immersion will help to prepare our students as they grow up in an increasingly multi-cultural world, and it will also allow them to learn additional languages more easily. VAIS students are well on their way to becoming proficient in a high-demand language, which will allow them to have a competitive edge in the job market.

Please sign this petition to renew the VAIS Charter, and that you support school choice in our district. Show the School Board that you BELIEVE in VAIS, and in our students.

Thank you.

For additional information, visit www.vaisverona.org