Category: Multilingual Education /
Description: The Multilingual Education Program is a school-within-a-school at Chelsea High School that encompasses the Language Learners (ELL) program for grades 9 – 12. All of the teachers and support staff in the program are trained to work with – and support – newcomers and second-language learners. The program was founded on five core principles:
- Cultural and language differences are respected, valued, and celebrated;
- Collaboration informs every aspect of classroom instruction and daily operation for students, faculty, and staff;
- Integration of content-based ESL instruction occurs across a curriculum tailored to students’ diverse and changing needs;
- Accountability and high expectations guide all aspects of programming, instruction, and operation; and
- The social and emotional needs of students and families are considered together with classroom instruction.
The primary focus of the MLE Department is preparing students to successfully transition into regular classes at Chelsea High School. The timing of this transition is based mostly on standardized test scores, along with academic performance, and MLE teacher and staff input.