Multilingual Services department update
Director of Multilingual Services Dr. Yadi Alfaro shared an update on student programming, language development initiatives, and plans for the 2026-27 school year. The district currently serves more than 550 English Learners representing 44 languages, with Spanish, Urdu, Russian, Ukrainian, and Arabic among the most commonly spoken languages other than English.
Dr. Alfaro discussed the upcoming closure of the self-contained bilingual program due to changing EL students' needs. With these changing language needs, the current self-contained model is not providing the support and opportunity for growth these students deserve. Students in the program will return to their home schools for the upcoming school year, and staff have been allocated to other schools where needed. These EL students will continue to be supported, but in a different way.
The presentation also reviewed the district’s successful pilot of the Language Power English Language Development curriculum, which demonstrated strong alignment with district instructional priorities and WIDA standards. Teacher feedback indicated increased student engagement and improved support for language development, leading to approval of full implementation beginning in 2026-27.
Additional updates included student ACCESS reclassification data, coaching initiatives, and plans to continue expanding collaboration, progress monitoring, and targeted support for multilingual learners across the district.
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