In response to growing needs, La Mesa is very proud to announce that we have a dedicated specialist to provide additional support to our English Learners that are Newcomers. The U.S. Department of Education defines newcomers as English Language Learners (ELL) who have received less than two years of instruction in U.S. schools.
The Accelerated Learning Specialist (ALS) for Newcomers at La Mesa is quite unique. In addition to 30 minutes of daily English Language Development (ELD) with their classroom teacher, our Newcomers can also receive an additional 30 minutes of language development with our ALS.
In a collaborative effort with classroom teachers, we plan to:
- Adhere to a simple protocol for Newcomers going through the silent period.
- Minimize attrition by helping students adhere to the ALS support schedule.
- Provide newcomers opportunities to share in class information about their home culture and language.
- Optimize newcomers' learning experience by considering their challenges and stages of language learning.