Welcome! Bienvenido! !أهلا بك Mirëseardhje! Taylor School District is proud to serve a growing number of English Learners: Students who speak or hear a language other than English in their homes and are working toward academic English proficiency. To better support this unique group of multilingual students, who currently make up over 6 percent of the total school population, TSD has launched a new department of English Language Development (ELD) staff with the 2022-23 school year.
These teachers have extensive training and background experiences in language acquisition, second language literacy and cross-cultural competency. They work with eligible students across the district’s many buildings and programs, including Johnson Early Childhood Center, TVLA and the Taylor Career and Technical Center. Middle and high school students have the opportunity to take targeted literacy and language support classes, while elementary students are provided with a combination of pull-out small group instruction and push-in/co-teaching sessions with their classroom teachers.
ELD staff members identify potential EL students, welcome students and families who are new to the U.S., provide initial screening and annual assessments, create original lesson plans to support language acquisition and collaborate with general education teachers to support EL students’ access to grade-level content through scaffolds and accommodations. The team also works to support multilingual families in and out of school by hosting engagement events throughout the year, connecting them with local resources and providing access to critical information in a language they can understand.
“We are thrilled to have a full-staffed program this year. It’s only October, and we’ve already seen tremendous benefits to our EL students and their families,” says Spencer Riley, director of English Learners and MTSS. “It’s been amazing to see the teachers working to build positive relationships with our students and providing the supports they need to be successful in the classroom.”
The district looks forward to the further development of the ELD department and the positive academic and social-emotional outcomes it will create for our English Learner students.