ESOL/Migrant Services

We Strive to Empower Students to Realize Their Full Potential as Global Citizens Through:

A Culture of Valuing All Learners of Language

We believe that all students are learners of language. Content area teaching includes targeted language instruction within core practice. We build upon the rich linguistic diversity of our learners.

Cultural Awareness, Competency and Respect

We respect and are responsive to the cultural backgrounds of our students and their families. We provide professional learning to build cultural competence and culturally relevant practices.

A Culture of High Expectations

We promote high expectations for academic achievement for all students regardless of language and cultural background. Attention to language development provides access to the knowledge and skills required for all students to become independent, life-long learners. Highly qualified educators are recruited and retained to realize this goal.

A Culture of Effective Professional Learning

We offer research-based, high-leverage professional learning to address program, teacher and student growth. Participants become active members of their professional learning community. Ongoing professional learning will include language acquisition theory, knowledge of the instructional core, effective pedagogical strategies and collaborative practice.

A Culture of Inclusion and Learning

We build stakeholder capacity to create an effective and sustainable system in which every student has access to an equitable and inclusive educational experience. This includes program models that provide appropriate accommodations and scaffolding throughout all facets of the educational experience. Students and their families are engaged as equal partners.

A Culture of Shared Responsibility for Language Development

We promote the collective responsibility for student language development. This requires a shared commitment to ongoing assessment of student language proficiency in addition to content learning. Data is used to plan for instruction that advances students’ language development. Instruction utilizes universal academic structures with fidelity to ensure access to learning through heritage language support and target language development.

Our Vision

The ESOL/Migrant Department envisions a district community in which all students are well prepared for success in our linguistically and culturally diverse local and global communities.

Our Mission

The mission of the ESOL/Migrant Department is to build district capacity and shared responsibility for the development of multilingual and culturally competent students and to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations around the education of English Learners and Migrant students.

Our Values

The ESOL/Migrant Department values the linguistic and cultural human rights of every student. The work of our department reflects these values by providing equitable access to high quality education. This work is strengthened through community engagement and shared responsibility of all stakeholders.

We believe that all students:

• are language learners and all teachers are language teachers
• have a cultural and linguistic identity that should be valued and developed
• deserve equitable access to learning
• deserve a school culture that is accepting of language diversity and diverse cultural backgrounds
• need intercultural skills to engage within their local and global community
• come from a community that cares and values their education