Our History
MNTS Tamil School was founded in December 2008 under MN Tamil Sangam with 12 students meeting at Eden Prairie Community Center. Over more than eighteen years it has grown into one of the largest and most distinguished Tamil schools in the United States.
At a Glance
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Dec 2008 | Founded with 12 students at Eden Prairie Community Center under MN Tamil Sangam. Monthly fee: $10. Founding Director: Sivanandam Mariyappan. |
| 2009–10 | Grew to 100+ students. Moved to Hopkins Eisenhower Community Center; new Shoreview branch. First MN Open Tamil Competitions. |
| 2010–11 | 130+ students across 3 locations. Adopted ATA syllabus; library established; OpenSIS implemented. |
| 2012–13 | 180+ students. ACT Accreditation Team formed. First World Mother Language Day; first Tamil Immersion Summer Camp (Woodbury). |
| Jan 2014 | Achieved Cognia (AdvancED) Accreditation — among the first Tamil schools in the US. |
| 2015–16 | First 2 students in the US earned the MN Bilingual Seal for Tamil (Gold). |
| 2017–18 | 300+ students. 7 teachers became ACTFL-certified raters for all 4 LSRW skills — a US first. |
| 2018–19 | 12 teachers completed a 3-year Tamil BA — first US Tamil school to achieve this. |
| 2019–20 | 380+ students. Full curriculum mapped to ACTFL proficiency levels. |
| 2022–23 | 400+ students. 37 Bilingual Seal earners. Tamil National Standards alignment; scholarship program launched. |
| 2025–26 | Ongoing growth — 11 curriculum levels, Tamil AI workshops, Summer Camp, statewide competitions. |