Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/7/2023
EASTHAMPTON — During its meeting on July 31, the Easthampton School Committee received updates on the district’s English language programming.
Director of Curriculum and Grants Julie Anne Levin explained that significant work began on the EL program began back in 2020 after submitting the self-assessment to the Department of Education to see where the district stood. The results led to the corrective action plan, which the district has undertaken over the past three years.
“We did not paint ourselves in a very flattering light because we really needed to see where the issues were in our programming. [Director of Special Education] Sarah Mochak and I were both brand new to being EL program directors and this was a great opportunity to get some feedback and some guidance around how we needed to build the EL program in Easthampton,” she said.
Over the past three years, Levin said the district has worked closely with EL expert in the area to put together the corrective action plan. She explained that there were issues with inputting student data, specifically with ACCESS participation, home language survey reviews and student information data.
At the time, Levin said the district had not consistently implemented English as a second language curriculum and family engagement, specifically with translation and interpretation.
“We spent three years working to make sure we addressed every single one of the criteria that was in the corrective action plan, and as of June we have met those criteria,” she said.
In the last several months, Levin said that there has been an argument that the program has not been sufficiently staffed.
“An argument that was made was that we haven’t actually met this criteria if we don’t have as many staff in our program. The corrective action plan is a public document, I am happy to show you how we have met all these pieces, but I don’t want us to think this isn’t solidly in place moving forward, because it is,” she said.
One of the district’s EL staff members, Sally Imbimbo explained that the families in the program are happy with the district.
“The families are really, really appreciating this community, they’re choosing this community, some of our families are working in the service industry, some of our families are working in the colleges, we have a really diverse economic array of families, but the one thing that they have in common is that they really love this community, so much that many of the families are living in hardship in order to keep their kids in school here,” she said.
On top of being from a diverse economic background, the families in the program come from all over the world and speak a variety of languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Khmer, Urdu, Chinese and more.
“The families are really diverse in terms of the resources they need, interventions, we really have to individualize for our families and really build up the relationships and work as partners with our families as much as we can,” Imbimbo said.
Across K-12, the district currently has seven students in the foundational program, 28 students in the transitional program, 27 former students and then one student that has opted out. In the foundational program, students take 90 minutes of EL per day, while those in the foundational program take 45 minutes of 45 EL per day. However, Imbimbo explained at the high school students in the transitional program at the high school take EL as their English course credit and is a typical, 84-minute class.
Gabriel CiFuentes, another member of the district’s EL staff said that the goal is to get EL students into the general classroom setting as much as possible.
“The biggest piece is really their relationships with their classroom teachers and what they get from their general education. We feel our job is mostly to support our students in being included in these general classroom situations as much as we can,” CiFuentes said. “The goal is that they won’t need us anymore, that we won’t have to pull them out as much, that they can participate with their classmates, that they can go to all activities that the other kids can go to.”
CiFuentes explained that there is a good amount of collaboration with the general education teachers about making sure the content is enhanced and accessible for the students, as well as how to navigate things that may clash with their culture.
“It’s really wonderful to just see kids be kids and navigate those situations in their own way. It’s really inspiring. Apart from that, making sure the parents are involved in their student’s education as they possibly can be. It’s a lot of work to make sure that all of the obstacles are students may be having are a little bit easier,” he said.
Along with classroom inclusion and work with families, CiFuentes added that one of the most important pieces of the education is social skill development.
“The social skill development is maybe one of the most important things we do, because at the end of the day these kids learn more from other kids than they will ever learn from us. That’s really where their language really starts to take off. When they have the motivation and the feeling of belonging, that language really starts to develop so, so quickly,” he said.
Interim Superintendent Maureen Binienda also went over the budget and staffing for the EL program fiscal year 2024. The budget comprises of $135,534 from the department, $88,739 in ESSER funding and $7,551 in Title III funding. In terms of staffing, there is one full-time ESL-licensed educator for K-4, one full-time ESL-licensed paraeducator for grades 5-8, one full-time ESL-licensed educator for grades 5-8 and a .4 full-time equivalent ESL-licensed educator for grades 9-12. Additionally, Binienda said the district is looking to hire another full-time ESL-licensed paraeducator for grades 9-12.
“Increasing services means that we have to decrease somewhere else, so we would have to look for where we would find the funding, however we do feel that it is important for the high school program to add one more full-time para-educator,” she said.
Moving forward with the program, Imbimbo said the district will continue to look at a focus on kindergarten and newcomer ESL instruction, while also continuing to develop the collaboration between general education, special education and ESL educators.
The Easthampton School Committee’s next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, Aug. 22.