A charter school in Washington Heights in Manhattan, New Heights Academy Charter School, has been teaching Japanese language to its 5-12 grade students. 87% of the students in that school are Hispanic, many of them from Dominican Republic. US-Japan Foundation, an institution I am involved as a member of the Board, is assisting the Japanese language program at the charter school. As the number of pre-college students who are taking Japanese language course has decreased from 88,000 in 2003 to 58,000 in 2006, such a program is very precious. http://www.newheightsacademy.org/contact.htm