Important Terms
ELL: English Language Learner (student)
ENL / ESL: English as a New Language or English as a Second Language (program)
NYSESLAT: New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (assessment)
L1: First or Home Language
L2: Second Language/English Language
Department Philosophy
The Herricks Union Free School District continues to welcome students, and their families, who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and the richness that they bring to our school community. As we immerse our students in the English language, we assist them in developing a deeper understanding of their own cultures, as well as the diverse cultures in the United States and in the world. ELLs are capable of reaching the highest standards, but they need time and support to acquire the English language.
Parental involvement is sought and nurtured to ensure the success of our students. We encourage parents to speak to their children in their home language; a child who is literate in his/her first language acquires the second language, in this case English, with fewer difficulties. A rich and stimulating linguistic environment at home, in any language, will ensure the academic and emotional success of our children.
District Services Overview
The work of the English as a New Language (ENL) teacher is to provide appropriate support for their students and to work with content area teachers to make language and content available to ELLs at their current level of proficiency. We believe that through dialogue and a shared understanding of curriculum at all levels with classroom teachers, guidance counselors and administrators, students in our ENL/ESL Program are provided with differentiated and carefully scaffolded activities and assessments to help improve and develop English language skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking and at the same time, master the content. We provide integrated services/co-teaching so that we can meet the needs of our ELLs by pairing a content area teacher with an ESL teacher in order to make content comprehensible; this approach is beneficial to all students, ELLs and native speakers of English. ELLs are also pulled-out or scheduled for an ENL / ESL class for more targeted support. Integrated/Co-teaching or pull-out services are determined at each building in order to best meet the needs of their students. ALL teachers are provided with professional development in order to provide our ELLs with the support they need.
To measure their growth in the English language, ELLs take The New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test yearly in order to determine their level of proficiency. Once a student reaches the level of Proficient / Commanding, he/she is then exited from ENL / ESL services, but the district is required to support ELLs for an additional two years. Our ultimate goal is to see ELLs exit our ENL / ESL program and to ensure academic success and social and emotional well being.
The New York State Education Department's Office of Bilingual Education & World Languages provides the following documents in numerous languages. Please review and contact the director if you should have any questions:
1. Screening, Identification, Placement, Review and Exit Criteria
2. The New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners
3. The Common Core State Standards Parent Information
4. Parent's Bill of Rights
5. Glossaries
6. Parent Workshop PowerPoint Presentation (PDF)
7. A Guide for Parents of English Language Learners in NYS
8. Parent Orientation Videos offered in ten languages
If you should have any questions about our programs, please contact:
Francesco L. Fratto
Director of World Languages, Language Immersion & English as a New Language
ffratto@herricks.org
Office: 516-305-8719
