Niu Valley Middle School (NVMS) celebrated the opening of its new World Language Center on Oct. 4. The school dedicated the new building in front of students, staff, community members and government partners.

Niu Valley Middle School offers the Middle Years Programme component of the International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools program and is the only public middle school that requires all students to take a World Language course. The new World Language Center includes four classrooms, currently used for Japanese, Mandarin and English-learning classes.

“This building will help to further expand our IB program, and provide our students with the skills they need to compete and succeed in our growing global economy,” NVMS Principal Laura Ahn said. “Mahalo to former NVMS principals Justin Mew and Sean Tajima, state Rep. Mark Hashem and Sen. Stanley Chang for their overwhelming support of this new building.” 

The new building was also designed to support 21st Century modes of education and learning for the school’s 770 students in grades 6-8. Each classroom is equipped with moveable furniture, whiteboards, access to an outdoor lanai space, and enhanced airflow and ventilation for cooler learning environments thanks to its unique design.

“As a world language teacher, this new building makes me feel like our school is really prioritizing learning languages and learning about different cultures,” said NVMS Japanese language teacher Kira-Ann Hayashi, who is also a proud NVMS alumna. “All the students are really excited and happy to be in these classrooms and I’m really grateful that they have this space.”

Construction for the building began in August 2019 and was completed in the summer of 2022 at a cost of approximately $6.8 million for design and construction.