Christina ELI Program
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Jan Lefebvre teaches English language |
In conjunction with the Christina School District, the English Language Institute is offering an elementary level ESL program to local Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students for the 18th year. This year the program has been joined with the Bilingual Program under the new umbrella, ELL (English Language Learners). Teachers are busy familiarizing new program administrators, principals and content-area teachers with the special needs and characteristics of LEP learners.
At the beginning of the fall term, approximately 70 public school students from more than 20 countries were studying in the LEP division of the new program in grades one through five. Nations represented by these learners include China, Estonia, India, Kenya, South Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Yemen. If previous years are any indicator, that number will nearly double within six months as new students arrive in the district.
Jan Lefebvre teaches first and second grades, and Lisa Grimsley teaches third and fourth grades at Newark’s Brookside Elementary School. At the beginning of the fall term, these teachers shared a single room but hoped to move into a newly renovated space later in the year.
Jo Gielow teaches fourth and a fifth grade in the Bancroft School in Wilmington and was expecting nearly 40 LEP students. ELI faculty continue to provide creative, multi-level English language services to all elementary LEP students in the Christina School District. In addition, they provide training for mainstream teachers in ways to better meet the needs of their LEP children. Doing so is a labor of love and a critical step toward helping at-risk children succeed in their academic life.