Goal:
To provide intensive
English language instruction with bilingual support to students new to the
United States schools who are non-English speakers.
Objective:
To accelerate English
language learning by:
- Providing additional
ESOL instruction to newly arrived students.
- Scaffolding 1st and 2nd language acquisition through the use of
bilingual teachers and support materials.
- Making strong, on-going
home-school connections.
- Provide student support
with transitional process to U.S. schools while maintaining appreciation of
their own culture.
Entry and Exiting
Criteria
- Students who are
non-English speaking
- Students who have
attended US schools for less than 2 years
and
- Rated Beginner on TELPAS
composite score.
- Students who are not
making expected progress in the mainstream should not be placed in the Newcomer Academy to replace newcomers already in
the program.
This is an acceleration
program, not a remedial program.
Students may exit
Newcomer Academy at the end of a semester based on progress documented by
several forms of assessment. The exit decision should be a collaborative
decision by both Newcomer and mainstream teachers.