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U-46 to Host Informational Sessions for Dual Language Program
Feb. 27, 2018
ELGIN - School District U-46 is inviting all families of incoming kindergartners and English-dominant first graders to Dual Language (DL) informational meetings hosted at local schools during the next few months. Starting in April, the District will also host informational sessions for families of students who are currently in sixth grade DL.
“Our successful Dual Language program allows students to develop high levels of academic and language proficiency in their first and second languages,” said CEO Tony Sanders. “It promotes the crossing of cultures and languages, and it is also creating a community of confident bilingual students who will be highly coveted in college and the workplace.”
Dual Language is a form of bilingual education in which students are taught literacy and grade-level academic content in two languages. The informational sessions will cover details of the U-46 program itself, the application process and research showing the benefits of bilingualism.
U-46 offers “one-way instruction” for students with a home language background of Spanish who qualify for the English Learner services program. Students without a home background of Spanish or who are English dominant may enroll in “two-way instruction” to learn Spanish and develop bilingual skills along with English Learners.
U-46 uses an “80:20” program in which the youngest students start out with 80 percent of their instruction in Spanish and 20 percent in English, reducing the Spanish-language portion by 10 percent per year from kindergarten through third grade, until the split is 50-50, where it remains through sixth grade.
Starting in middle school (seventh and eighth grade in U-46), DL students are focused on developing academic and language skills of high rigor in both languages. Next year, students will have the opportunity, for the first time, to continue their DL courses at the high school level, rounding out a journey toward bilingualism and biliteracy.
The session schedule for parents of incoming kindergarten students and English-dominant 1st graders is as follows:
Location |
Date |
Time |
Lincoln Elementary, 1650 Maureen Drive, Hoffman Estates
|
Tuesday, Feb. 27 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Hillcrest Elementary, 80 N. Airlite St., Elgin
|
Wednesday, Feb. 28 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Channing Elementary, 63 S. Channing St., Elgin
|
Thursday, March 1 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Huff Elementary, 801 Hastings St., Elgin
|
Thursday, March 1 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Illinois Park Center for Early Learning, 1350 Wing St., Elgin
|
Monday, March 5 |
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. |
Gail Borden Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin
|
Tuesday, March 6 |
6 p.m. to 7 p .m. |
Clinton Elementary, 770 Mill St., South Elgin
|
Wednesday, March 7 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
|
Otter Creek Elementary, 2701 Hopps Road, Elgin
|
Thursday, March 8 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Highland Elementary, 190 N. Melrose Ave., Elgin
|
Tuesday, March 13 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Independence Center for Early Learning, 200 Taylor Ave., Bartlett
|
Tuesday, March 13 |
5 p.m. to 6 p.m. |
Heritage Elementary, 507 Arnold Ave., Streamwood
|
Wednesday, March 14 |
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. |
Gail Borden Library 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin
|
Tuesday, April 3 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
South Elgin Branch Library, 127 McLean Blvd., South Elgin
|
Thursday, April 5 |
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. |
U-46 Educational Services Center, 355 E. Chicago St., Rooms 239 & 240, Elgin
|
Wednesday, April 18 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
The session schedule for parents of students currently in sixth grade Dual Language is as follows:
Location |
Date |
Time |
Larsen Middle School, 665 Dundee Ave., Elgin
|
Monday, April 2 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Tefft Middle School, 1100 Shirley Ave., Streamwood
|
Tuesday, April 3 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Kimball Middle School, 451 N. McLean Blvd., Elgin
|
Wednesday, April 4 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Abbott Middle School, 949 Van St., Elgin
|
Tuesday, April 10 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Ellis Middle School, 225 S. Liberty St., Elgin
|
Thursday, April 12 |
6 p.m. to 7 p.m. |
Parents who have questions about these informational sessions can contact the English Language Learners Department at 847-888-5000 ext. 5331 or ext. 5332.