On a sunny afternoon in Loudon County, it's not uncommon to see a group of students playing soccer. They speak both English and Spanish.

"Some of them were born here. Some of them have been here since middle school or elementary school and so they're English is probably as good as mine or yours," said Loudon High School Principal Cheri Parrish.

She has spent the last 12 years at the school where now 10 percent of students are Hispanic.

"Monterrey Mushroom is a big employer of the majority of our Hispanic parents," she said.

The state gives schools an extra year to graduate English language learners, but they have to pass the same exams in English like every other student.

"We have two ELL teachers at the high school and also an interpreter. The interpreter is mainly used to communicate with the parents," Parrish said.

3,400 people in Loudon County marked Hispanic or Latino on their census forms last year. That's seven percent of the county's total population. With the new Mexican restaurant that just opened in September and another new Hispanic store down the road, that number only seems to be growing.

"Over the last 15 years, there's been a huge jump," said Sgt. Bill Evans with the Loudon Police Department.

He was born and raised here, then joined the force in 1996.

"There is a language barrier. Usually, there are children at these residences. They'll help translate," he said.

That's a good thing, because out of more than 35 Loudon officers, only three speak Spanish.

"A call that might be a basic property theft that might have taken 10 or 15 minutes might take you 30 minutes," he explained.

Evans said the department is working on that, with each officer trying to learn as many key Spanish words and phrases as they can.

Evans believes almost all of the Hispanic people he deals with in Loudon are here legally.