Bilingual education adapts and innovates
Most of us looked forward to the beginning of 2020, the beginning of a new decade. Unfortunately, for most of us, this year has brought with it new challenges and never-lived circumstances. However, despite all the negative things happening around us, despite the losses, we suddenly find ourselves looking at our position in a new light.
In difficult situations like the one we are currently facing, there are only two ways to react. We can either freeze and focus only on the negative, or we try to be positive and see the infinite possibilities to innovate around us.
We at Las Cruces Public Schools are glad to say that we’ve chosen to remain positive and productive through all uncertainty. We can proudly say we have dedicated and focused all our energies and expertise to make sure that our teachers and our community receive our support in the best possible way. A great example of this is how the Bilingual Education, Translation, Interpretation, and Community Outreach Department has been able to support families, teachers and other LCPS staff.
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Since the beginning of April, elementary bilingual teachers and principals have participated in professional development. They have worked hard on learning and adapting to our new curriculum Benchmark Adelante and Advanced. A common core aligned curriculum fully accessible in both English and Spanish. A curriculum that is also completely accessible online and perfect for remote learning.
Our secondary grade teachers and principals also received access to a new, fully digital intervention program accessible from any platform. The ILit curriculum is designed to help our educators support our English Language Learners (ELL) following the Sheltered Instruction Operation Protocol (SIOP) model. A model that has is proven highly successful in helping our ELL achieve their academic goals.
Also, a cohort of 15 educators was selected to participate in the TESOL Cohort II preparation (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), which is a partnership with the New Mexico State University Education Department. The TESOL Cohort II consists of teachers working on requirements to obtain their TESOL endorsement, to support instruction for our English Learners.
In addition to all of this, our goal has been to keep our Spanish-speaking parents more connected and informed. We have created a library of online resources such as video tutorials to help them navigate the diverse platforms used by teachers and the district. We have created a completely bilingual hotline for the support of our parents. Our community support team provides families with totally free resources, workshops, and training to prepare them for this time of online learning.
Our team is here to support our LCPS community in any way that we can. Student and family needs are our top priority, and we look forward to working through these uncertain times together.
For more information about the SUCCESS Partnership, contact info@NgageNM.org.
B. Adriana Ontiveros is the bilingual education and community outreach coordinator for Las Cruces Public Schools.
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