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Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference

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2026 Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference Connecting Cultures, Building Futures

This conference brings together everyone who is interested in learning about, collaborating with, and advocating for community-based HL schools. Participants typically include directors and administrators of community-based HL schools, teachers, members of the language communities, representatives of public schools, researchers in the field of HL education, and leaders of national language organizations.

2026 In-person and Virtual Options

Friday, October 2, 2026 - 1:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. EDT
Saturday, October 3, 2026 - 9:45 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT

This conference aims to:

  1. Build partnerships among and across community-based heritage language schools and determine arenas for future action
  2. Help schools create, strengthen, and build their school structures and activities
  3. Make clear the importance of community-based heritage language schools in the language learning landscape and in the lives of language communities in the United States
  4. Develop information about community-based heritage language schools through a national survey of schools
  5. Share and make available resources that will be helpful to schools

Conference Schedule

Important Links

 

Friday, October 2

(Eastern Time)
12:00 to 1:00 p.m. - Participant Check-in
1:00 to 1:30 p.m. – Conference Opening

Saturday, October 3

(Eastern Time)
9:45 to 10:00 a.m. - Participant Check-in

Plenary Speakers:

 

Sara Lee, Ph.D., Associate Teaching Professor, School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University

  • The Transformative Power of Language Learning for Diverse Learners

Yong Zhao, Ph.D., Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education and Human Sciences, University of Kansas

  • From Meritocracy to Human Interdependence: Redefining the Purpose of Education in the Age of Al

Workshops for Teachers and Administrators 

  • Arabic Schools in the U.S.: Current Status and Questions It Raises for Community-Based Schools
  • Embracing Learner Diversity: Supporting Students with Specific Needs
  • Holding a Summer Camp
  • Developing Resources for Teachers
  • FILL the Future: Theory in Action
  • Bridging Worlds: The Power of Heritage Languages in Social Cohesion
  • Using AI in Instruction
  • Public and Community-Based School Collaborations
  • Heritage Language Think Tank Global Call to Action: Steps We Can All Take

Panels and Networking Sessions

  • Starting and Administering a Community-Based School
  • Collaborating Across Schools Teaching Different Languages: With a Common Theme

  • Engaging Parents With the Language and in the School

  • Using AI in Instruction

  • Sharing Successes and Challenges

Registration is now open for the 2026 Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference. Register Here!

The following languages have been represented at the conference in previous years. The National Coalition of Community-Based Language Schools has language representatives for each of these languages who are closely engaged with practitioners working in community-based heritage language programs in their language community and are interested in making connections with other language groups. Language respresentatives serve as liaisons, creating connections between their language community and the work of the Coalition. Check out the Coalition website to learn more about the language representatives and their responsibilities.

Languages represented include:

  • Albanian
  • American Sign Language
  • Amharic (Ethiopia)
  • Arabic
  • Bulgarian
  • Chinese
  • Czech
  • Dari
  • Estonian
  • Farsi

  • Filipino

  • Finnish

  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hindi   
  • Hungarian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Lithuanian
  • Lokanu
  • Marathi
  • Osage Nation
  • Pashto
  • Persian
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Quechua
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Spanish
  • Tagalog
  • Tamil
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukranian
  • Urdu
  • Uyghur
  • Vietnamese

The Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference is hosted as a collaboration between the American University Institute for Innovation in Education and the Coalition for Community-Based Heritage Language Schools.

If you are interested in sponsoring the conference, please contact Danielle Sodani: dgsodani@american.edu.

 

2026 Plenary Address

Bridging Resources and Relationships

50:23

Bridging Resources and Relationships: Strengthening Community-Based Schools through University-Community Partnerships

Dr. Jin Sook Lee
University of California, Santa Barbara

 

 

Register Here!

Register through Eventbrite for the 13th Annual Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference on October 2nd and 3rd, 2026.

Early-Bird Registration ends August 31, 2026

Become a Conference Sponsor

Please consider becoming a sponsor of the 2026 Community-Based Heritage Language Conference. 

Sponsors enable us to bring our community together, build partnerships, strengthen schools, deepen our coalition's activism, and share resources. Through sponsorship, we can reach the language community and beyond with our message about the importance of community-based heritage language schools and the families they serve.

More details here.

2025 Conference Resources

Please find the 2025:

Please note if you do not see a video listed, the recording is not available. 

Conference Planning Team

Coalition for Community-Based Heritage Language Schools

Masako Douglas, PhD, Professor of Japanese, California State University, Long Beach; Curriculum Advisor, Orange Coast Gakuen Japanese Language School

Ana Lucia Lico, Co-Founder and Board Member, Brazilian Association for Culture and Education (ABRACE)

Renate Ludanyi, PhD, President, German Language School Conference, United States

Tommy Lu, EdD, Department Chair of Information Technologies, Delaware Technical Community College; Advisor, Washington Metropolitan Association of Chinese Schools (WMACS)

Marta McCabe, PhD, President, Czech and Slovak School of North Carolina; Global Learning Consultant, Duke University

Joy Kreeft Peyton, PhD, Conference Chair, Senior Fellow, Center for Applied Linguistics

American University

Mark Forsberg, Program Coordinator, Community-Based Heritage Language Schools Conference

Danielle Gervais Sodani, PhD, Director, Institute of Innovation in Education, American University, Baker School of Education