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Elmhurst is a proudly diverse community. District 205 is home to families with over 57 home languages; the most common languages other than English are Spanish, Malayalam, Polish, Urdu, Greek and Arabic.
As our vibrant population of multilingual learners continues to grow, our programming will continue to change and improve in order to best meet the needs of all our students. Culturally and linguistically diverse students offer a wide variety of attributes that enrich our classrooms. The goal for all our multilingual learners is to continue to foster their native language development and pride in their home culture, while at the same time learning academic content, the English language and all they need to be successful as global citizens.
In District 205, we use the term “emergent bilingual” to refer to students that the state of Illinois categorizes as “English Learner”. The term “emergent bilingual” is more asset-based and reflects the robust knowledge and experiences (let alone the bilingualism!) that these students bring to our school communities.
Identifying Emergent Bilinguals (EB)
According to Illinois Administrative School Code, each district in the state is required to screen all new, enrolling students who have been determined to have a language other than English used in the home. Once an additional language has been indicated, the district is obligated to screen any school-aged students of that family with the state mandated screening instrument. The results of the screening instrument are used to determine English Language level, and subsequently, eligibility for emergent bilingual services, also known as EL services. The District offers three types of programs for emergent bilingual students.
D205 Programming for Emergent Bilinguals
Elmhurst currently offers three types of programs for emergent bilingual students: Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI), Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) and Dual Language (One-Way Immersion at Madison, Two-Way Immersion at Conrad Fischer and Churchville).
Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE)
This program must be offered in schools where 20 or more emergent bilingual students speak the same language.
Full-time TBE programs incorporate these required program components: instruction is provided in subjects required by law or by the district (including language arts, math, science and social science) in the student’s home language and in English; English as a Second-Language; and instruction in the history and culture of the student’s native land and of the United States.
Part-time TBE programs incorporate these required program components: daily instruction is provided in English and in the student’s home language as determined by assessment of the student’s English proficiency level.
In Elmhurst, there are six TBE programs in Spanish at the following schools:
Madison Early Childhood Center
Conrad Fischer Elementary
Emerson Elementary
Hawthorne Elementary
Churchville Middle School
York Community High School
Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI)
This program must be offered when there are 19 or fewer emergent bilingual students of the same language. This provides intensive English instruction and support in all content areas. It is designed to enable students to keep pace with peers in achievement in the core academic content areas. In Elmhurst, every school in the district offers a TPI.
Dual Language Program
Elmhurst D205 is committed to providing the best possible education for all students. We are excited to offer two way dual language programming at Conrad Fischer Elementary School and Churchville Middle School. A dual language program is an instructional model that provides a challenging, enriched curriculum in two languages. This special program begins in Kindergarten and continues through middle school. The goal of dual language is for students to become bilingual, biliterate and bicultural.
The mission of the Elmhurst District 205 Dual Language Program is for all students to develop biliteracy and bilingualism, obtain high levels of academic achievement, and foster cultural competence in order to succeed in a global society and be college, career and life ready.
The dual language program in District 205 is a two-way immersion program in English and Spanish. In kindergarten, dual language programming provides 90% of instructional time in Spanish and 10% of instructional time in English. The table below outlines the content language allocation across the elementary and middle school grades. In dual language classrooms, student composition is 50% Spanish speaking and 50% English speaking students.