SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Language Program Funded in 3 Schools
Three San Fernando Valley elementary schools will be the laboratories of an experimental language program for non-English-speaking students under a federal grant accepted Monday by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The Board of Education voted to accept a $165,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund a new program aimed at teaching English to youngsters who have been enrolled in district schools for two years or less.
Unlike the district’s current bilingual education programs, which cater to Spanish-speaking students and use both Spanish and English, the new project is designed to serve children who speak any of the scores of languages represented in the district. Students will be grouped according to age and placed in classes taught by teachers who will speak only English.
The classes will incorporate computers to foster English literacy. Teachers will take an interdisciplinary approach and stress language skills in all subjects.
The grant, which is renewable for two additional years, will fund classes at Hazeltine Avenue School in Van Nuys and Monlux and Saticoy Street schools in North Hollywood.
“We’re going to try to track them for three years to see if this inundation approach works,” said Hazeltine Avenue Principal Patricia Abney.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
