Equitable Education for All: Rewards, Challenges of ELL Program Explored at District 205 Forum Monday
Community is invited; results of this meeting will help set the vision for District 205's English Language Learners program.
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A community forum that explores the goals, legal requirements, rewards and challenges of Elmhurst District 205's English Language Learners program will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25, at the District Administration Center, 162 S. York.
Members of the community are invited to learn how other school districts provide ELL services and hear about the experiences others have had with the program in District 205. Board members, administrators, teachers, former ELL students, parents, a professor with an ELL specialty, members of the Superintendent's Advisory Committee and administrators from St. Charles and Woodstock school districts are expected to attend.
The committee will share their findings at a future board meeting and set the vision for the district's ELL program.
"Really, the main goal is a two-way communication about ELL," District 205 Board member Maria Hirsch said last month. "Hopefully we'll have a large group of community members."
District 205 has seen a steady increase in the number of students who come from other countries and who do not speak English. The district's mission and vision is to provide an "equitable education for all and success in a global society," and there are numerous state and federal regulations the district must adhere to.
"Achieving this goal will open and broaden future opportunities for all District 205 students," according to a press release from the district.
Following is the agenda for Monday's meeting:
Purpose, Format and Current District ELL Performance Results
- Dr. Charles Johns, District 205 assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction
Rules, Regulations and Research Results
- Dr. Ngoc-Diep Nguyen, School of Education, Northeastern University
Programs in Other Districts
- Rosa Ascharya, principal at St. Charles District 303
- Keely Krueger, director of grants, language and culture, Woodstock District 200
Perspectives from District 205 Faculty
- Cheryl Freiberger, Churchville Middle School ELL teacher
- Patricia Meza, Hawthorne Elementary ELL Teacher
Perspective From Former District 205 ELL Students
- Dominick Lipinski, Poland, current career in insurance
- Bujar Sadiku, Albania, studying at COD, applying to UIC
Perspective From Current District 205 ELL Students
- Sofia Suanno, Italy
- Jessica Madgay, Phillipines
- Ramzi Hamarhen, Jordan
Questions and Answers
Interactive Survey
Comment Collection
Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of the panel.
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Renee Balison
1:15 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
It's disingenuous to the taxpayers to say ALL of district 205 is experiencing an "influx" of students from different countries, when in fact, it's mainly one or two schools that take in the children from different towns, whom mainly come from one particular country. How about wee do in-district qualification checks before we decide if this program is even necessary?
Eileen
10:13 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
It is exciting to think about the possibilities of providing students in Elmhurst with an opportunity to become bilingual /bi -literate. We have an untapped resource right here in our district. All students in the district would have the opportunity to benefit from this multicultural approach to learning. Many high achieving districts such as Barrington and Highland Park already offer Dual Language programs to their families. Elmhurst needs to keep pace with the rest of the world. EXCITING!!!