EL Teachers: Mrs. Crisp and Mrs. Coulombe

What is the role of an EL teacher?

EL teachers work with classroom teachers to ensure the academic success of our students.

Students are evaluated throughout the year to determine their English proficiency and to make appropriate lesson plans suitable for their individual needs.

Elementary Push-In:  In some cases, the ELL teacher works with the ELL students in the grade level classroom.This is done to provide support, modifications, and/or accommodations with activities, assignments, and projects.

Elementary Pull-Out: ELL students spend the majority of their day in classrooms with English speaking peers.  This allows them to be a part of the student body within their school.  They also receive assistance for a part of the day through the pull-out component of the ELL program.  In pull-out, they go to the ELL classroom for focused instruction in English and in Math or content area studies. 

Eligibility for EL Services

Eligibility for the EL program is determined by a screening conducted at the initial school registration when the form indicates another language other than English is spoken at home.  When found eligible, students receive the EL support and services in a pull-out in the EL classroom or in an inclusion assistance in the regular classroom format.  Each year in Spring all EL students will be administered a standardized test (WIDA ACCESS) to monitor academic progress and to measure English language competence.  Students will exit the EL program when he/she has reached a level of English proficiency in speaking, reading and writing that enables him/her to work successfully in the regular academic settings.

An integrated thematic curriculum necessary to help students to build vocabulary and to learn content area studies is used in the EL program and the integrated instruction aims to bring both cognitive and language development.  The EL curriculum is used as a guide for planning with its objectives based on Virginia SOL standards. Communication and working collaboratively with the regular classroom teachers are viewed as the essential component of supporting EL students in gaining confidence and academic competency in all areas of classroom instruction.