Bethel’s English Language Learner (ELL) Program serves children whose first language is not English. These students are learning English language literacy skills along with their grade level content knowledge and skills.1
Current list of schools providing ELL services
- Evergreen Elementary
- Frederickson Elementary
- Rocky Ridge Elementary
- Spanaway Jr. High
- Spanaway Lake High
Who Qualifies?
Children qualify for ELL services based on the Washington State Home Language Survey, one of the forms in every student’s enrollment packet. If parents indicate “YES” in answer to question #2 on the Home Language Survey (“Is your child’s first language a language other than English?”), the child is screened for ELL services.
Students qualifying for ELL are offered services at one of the designated ELL schools listed below. On choosing to enroll their children for ELL services, students are bused as necessary to the school that corresponds to their home address.
Based on current attendance areas, students can access services at the following schools:
- All Junior High students go to Spanaway Junior
- All High School ELL students go to Spanaway Lake High School
- Evergreen, Spanaway and Thompson go to Evergreen Elementary
- Clover Creek, Frederickson and Pioneer Valley go to Frederickson Elementary
- Centennial, Kapowsin, North Star, Pioneer Valley, Rocky Ridge and Roy go to Rocky Ridge Elementary
- Camas Prairie can go to Evergreen or Frederickson
- Naches Trail can go to Evergreen or Rocky Ridge
- Nelson can go to Frederickson or Rocky Ridge
Contacts
Evergreen Elementary
Tonya Stevens-Chelius | Email | (253) 683-8200
Frederickson Elementary
Emi Conant | Email | (253) 683-6300
Rocky Ridge Elementary
Fred Fitch | Email | (253) 683-5000
Spanaway Jr. High
Charmee Beauclaire | Email | (253) 683-5400
Spanaway Lake High
Marjut Karlsson | Email | (253) 683-5600
ELL Assistant Director
Sonja Hemmerling | Email
ELL Coach
Richelle Palmer | Email | (253) 683-5387
ELL Clerk
Monica Aponte | Email
(253) 683-6941 phone
(253) 847-2067 fax
Parents or guardians wishing to access ELL services for their children should begin by talking to the office professionals at their neighborhood school. They will assist you with the process. Monica Aponte, our District’s ELL clerk can help answer questions in Spanish.
Interpreters are available to assist parents or guardians in other languages. Contact your school to request an interpreter for parent-teacher conferences, school meetings, or to answer questions about ESL.
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVELS
To be proficient in a second language means to effectively communicate or understand thoughts or ideas through the language’s grammatical system and its vocabulary, using its sounds or written symbols. Language proficiency is composed of oral (listening and speaking) and written (reading and writing) components as well as academic and non-academic language (Hargett, 1998).
As noted by Lucas, Villagas, and Freedson-Gonzalez:
Language is the medium through which students gain access to the curriculum and through which they display—and are assessed for—what they have learned. To succeed in U.S. schools, students must be able to read academic texts in different subject areas, produce written documents in language appropriate for school (e.g. tests, stories, essays), and understand their teachers and peers—all in English. Therefore, language cannot be separated from what is taught and learned in school. Whereas this is true for everyone, it has special significance for ELLs. Because they are learning English while learning the content of the curriculum, the process of learning English as a second language is inextricably linked with all their school learning. For that reason, a teacher who has ELLs in his or her class is best equipped to teach them if he or she has knowledge of some key principles of second language learning.2
Bethel’s ELL teachers use a Pull-out Sheltered Instruction model
Sheltered instruction (SI) is an approach used widely for teaching language and content to English Language Learners, particularly as schools prepare students to achieve high academic standards. In SI, academic subjects (e.g. science, social studies) are taught using English as the medium of instruction. SI is most often used in classes comprised solely of English Language Learners, although it may be used in classes with both native English speaker and English Language Learners when necessitated by scheduling considerations or by small numbers of English Language Learners. Instruction is provided by certificated teachers, and supplemental support provided by paraprofessionals must be done under the supervision of a certificated teacher.
1Parts of this text have been adapted from program descriptions for the ELD Program at North Thurston County, Washington.
2Tamara Lucas, Ana Maria Villegas and Margaret Freedson-Gonzalez “Linguistically Responsive Teacher Education: Preparing Classroom Teachers to Teach English Language Learners”, Journal of Teacher Education 2008; 59; 361
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