ROME, GA—West Central Elementary parents and students filled the school’s media center the evening of Oct. 20 to learn more about Rome City Schools’ (RCS) English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program and hear more from the team of teachers who work weekly with students whose primary language is not English.
ESOL teachers Vilma Hernandez Aviles, Allison Skeen, Carrie Nobles, Jori McDaniel, and Erika Kelly were present, welcoming, and focused on sharing what it is they do to bridge language gaps and support learning for students who are new to using English or whose primary language is one other than English.
Assistant Principal McKensey Wheeler said she hopes the meeting offered West Central families a general understanding of the program. The goal of the ESOL program is to help English learners increase both English language proficiency and academic language proficiency. Wheeler stressed that while some students who qualify for the program may speak English quite well, there may be some deficits in comprehension of academic language which can affect their academic performance. The ESOL program ensures that these students get the information, understand it, and are given necessary opportunities for practice that will support their academic growth and success.
Nobles and Skeen explained that students whose primary language is anything other than English are screened upon entry to the school system to see what their needs may be, if any. The five ESOL teachers of West Central work with 215 multilingual students who have screened into the program by going into their classrooms and co-teaching with the content teacher, which may look different in each classroom. Students work on language skills and comprehension goals using approved interactive curriculum such as Hands-On English and Frames for Fluency and are evaluated annually until they test out of the program.
Parents were provided with a QR code and invited to stay up to date with what’s happening in the program by visiting West Central’s ESOL Google site, which is also linked to the school’s webpage.
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