CLARKSVILLE — Just five years ago, Greater Clark County Schools had approximately 400 students learning English as a second language. That number has now climbed to over 1,100.
As the number of students from non-English speaking households continues to grow at Greater Clark, the district is making strides to ensure a quality education for those children.
About 35 languages are represented in the student body. The largest of those is Spanish with over 900 speakers. Arabic is the second-largest with about 60 speakers, and Mandarin is third with just under 20 speakers.
Kim Hartlage, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, said eight schools currently offer English Language Learner programs.
"Our staffing is very important," Hartlage said. "We meet with the families and try to get them set up with all the support services we provide at those buildings. We've brought on translators and tutors. We have worked very closely with the New Neighbors center at IUS. They help provide professional development with teachers and parents. We've worked with post-secondary counselors and college readiness to make sure they're aware of all of the opportunities. We want to make sure they have all the information they need at their fingertips."
In order to properly staff the schools with capable teachers, the district receives federal and state grants to support ELL programs. The schools now have over 20 staff members dedicated to supporting ELL students.
"Teacher training at those schools is a little different, specifically when it comes to helping students acquire the language first," Hartlage said. "Our teachers of ELL students have focused on the four strands of reading, writing, listening and speaking. Once they get that down, everything comes easier. Once the students get to a certain level, they can take off academically."
ESL students at Greater Clark pass through six levels of proficiency. The first level is the point where most new students enter the program.
"It's mostly picture question, and they can answer yes or no questions," said Decimber Smith, coordinator of ELL programs. "Second is general phrases, and they can listen to questions. The third is general-specific. At this point, they are able then to pretty much use the social language pretty well. After that, they need to develop their academic language."
Smith said students generally take two to seven years to become proficient in English, with few students needing the full seven years.
"It depends on how much of an English immersion [the students] have," Smith said. "Whether they are speaking English at home, they have siblings or they are new to the country all play a role. When they become proficient, the next year they are still monitored to make sure they are able to function in the classroom."
LANGUAGE AND CLASSROOM TEACHERS COLLABORATE
Once students begin to develop a grasp on the language, they begin spending time in regular education classrooms. Their progress is still monitored through testing, with the main standard being set by WIDA, a consortium that assists with language development. Smith said that this process allows the students to become fully integrated with their peers.
"We have co-teaching models that are very successful with the regular education teachers," Smith said. "The ELL teacher and the regular education teacher plan together to make sure they are meeting the needs of the students. They are making sure the language sticks. They are making sure they are setting out the goals and directions for the day."
Aside from academics, the district also aims to connect with the different cultures of students and their families. Hartlage said this includes teachers taking cultural competency courses.
"We really are trying to better understand the cultures and how we can better support the students and their families," Hartlage said. "We've really tried to schedule and design a lot of different family activities. We have cultural nights, family literacy events and world fest. We work with the community to build an awareness of the different cultures. We want our children to feel safe and feel secure. Most importantly, we want to provide them with all of the educational opportunities possible.”
The school with the most linguistic diversity is Northaven Elementary, with 24 languages spoken by its student body.
"We nickname it the United Nations of Greater Clark," Hartlage said. "It's a very diverse school."
Jonathan Jennings and Pleasant Ridge elementary schools in Charlestown have the largest concentration of Arabic speaking students in the district.
Parkwood Elementary has the highest ELL population of any school in the district, with 51 percent of its students coming from Spanish-speaking households.
SCHOOL EMBRACES OUTREACH
Before coming to Parkwood, Principal Brandon Winebrenner was the assistant principal of a school in Arizona that was 65 percent Hispanic, which is close to Parkwood's demographics.
“One of the big draws of this school is that it is very diverse," Winebrenner said. "There's a lot of culture here. Parents are highly involved. They want to be a part of it."
Winebrenner said Parkwood's main mission is making sure the families it serves are comfortable with the school system. This has included the school actively seeking out bilingual staff members.
"Anytime I give a message to parents, I do it English and have it translated to Spanish," Winebrenner said. "A good number of our teachers can speak English and Spanish, so that helps us reach out. On open house night, we station them up front to kind of be the welcoming table. Anytime we schedule conferences, we have those people around, too. Making sure our staff has the ability to communicate is a big piece. What makes us strong is the strong partnership between us and our Hispanic community.”
Parkwood recently improved its program by adding a teacher whose main responsibility is ELL kindergarten students. The school also renovated a wing of its building to add new ELL classrooms.
Winebrenner said he hoped to have a dual-language classroom, where half the day is spent with English instruction and the other half with Spanish, but a grant that would've supported the program fell through.
"We would've been the first school in the area with something like that," Winebrenner said. "That would be a program that parents opt into. We wouldn't force any kids to go directly into that. It's something that's long-term. We may not be able to accomplish it next year, but we'll keep the enrichment program where we spend about half an hour a day doing it. Down the road, we'd like to pursue that grant again and expand it.”
ELL tutor Larry Ponzi was singled out as one of Parkwood's best assets by Winebrenner. In addition to classroom duties, Ponzi works with the families of students at home.
“I can help them with doctor appointments and things like that," Ponzi said. "If they have problems with a landlord and they don't feel like they can voice their side of the story correctly, I can help with that. I can help with any problem they may encounter. I start getting text messages at 4 in the morning and get them until 10 at night."
Ponzi said he believes this sort of outreach is important for a school as diverse as Parkwood.
"It's really been good for this school, because we have such a large ELL population," Ponzi said. "It continues to grow, and I would like to think it's because of the school's attitude toward them. We're here not just as an educational facility, but as a community center where they can feel safe about coming to talk. We're here to help them."