Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) invites staff, parents and community members to a series of meetings to learn about the upcoming changes to the middle and high school English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) program.
The ESOL program helps linguistically and culturally diverse secondary students orientate to a new cultural and academic environment. The goal of the ESOL program is to empower ESOL students to master academic English and to thrive in school, college, careers and as global citizens.
The biggest change for the ESOL program is high school students will be able to receive up to two English credits from ESOL courses. The ESOL course will be aligned with the English course to help students stay on track with their credits needed for graduation. “We are trying to make sure we can create those opportunities so students can be successful” said Secondary ESOL Instructor and Supervisor Sonja Bloether.
This summer, English and ESOL teachers will receive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses to better help students with their language development. They want to provide better language instruction for students, so they can be on the same academic level as other students.
Schools want to continue to provide translators to help parents support their students. The MCPS Operating Budget is looking to increase language opportunities in 2021. Bloether hopes to see more parents involved. She believes parents can make a huge impact on their student’s education.
These changes are being made for several reasons:
- To ensure that ESOL students have access to grade-level content classes
- To increase the graduation rate of ESOL students
- To ensure that these students are college- and career-ready
- To maintain high-quality English language development for all ESOL students
Upcoming Meetings will be held from 6-7:30 p. m.
Thursday, Feb. 27
Watkins Mill High School
Media Center
10301 Apple Ridge Road, Gaithersburg
Wednesday, March 18
East Montgomery Regional Service Center
3300 Briggs Chaney Road, Silver Spring
