Home Language of 54% of Students Not English

The number of Glendale school students who speak a language other than English at home rose again this year, according to the district’s annual Language Census Report.

Fifty-four percent of Glendale schoolchildren are from homes where English is not the primary language, a rise of 3.5% from last year, says the report presented to the Glendale Board of Education on Tuesday.

The district enrolled 855 new Armenian-speaking students this year, more than any other language group, the report says.

Spanish continues to be the largest language group, with 4,588 children speaking Spanish at home. Armenian is the second-largest group, with 3,077 students, followed by Korean at 1,753, Tagalog, a Filipino language, at 524 and Vietnamese at 370.

Most students speaking a language other than English at home attend eight elementary schools and five secondary schools in southern Glendale, where immigrant populations are the highest, according to the survey, which is required by the California State Department of Education.

The totals include students who speak a foreign language at home but have limited English skills and those who speak a foreign language but are fluent in English.