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English Learners

Latino student smiling with a thumbs up

ECS English Learner Program

Elkhart's English Learner (EL) Program serves as an advocate for all language minority students. We are committed to fostering the acquisition of the English language skills necessary for full transition into a regular academic program and participation in the total school community. We are dedicated to providing programs, practices, and services which reflect the changing educational and cultural needs of our students.

Elkhart Community Schools values ALL students and families. 

  • What is the goal for English Learners? 
    • English Learners acquire English and academic skills within content-area classes ultimately leading to graduation and success while maintaining their first language and recognizing the value of multiple cultures.
  • What is the Identification and Instructional Process for English Learners?
    1. Complete registration with the district
    2. Home Language Survey
    3. WIDA screener
    4. Scores: Parent/Guardian notification of result & Individual Learning Plan (ILP) are created
    5. WIDA ACCESS annual testing
    6. Monitored for two years after reaching English Proficiency Level 5.

Detailed EL Identification and Instructional Process

In Elkhart...

29 Countries - 32 Languages - 2,281 English Learners - 3,485 Multilingual Students

Visual graph representing the number of multilingual learners at ECS by school year.

In the Classroom...

Visual representation of the following statistic: 5 out of 25 students are EL Students
Over 99% of our teachers in the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model.
We also employ 28 English Language teachers,  and have an additional 27 classroom teachers who have added an EL license to su

Contact

Cynthia Bonner
Director of English Learners
574-262-5772