The Windsor Unified School District offers a variety of English language acquisition programs for multilingual and multicultural students and parents who speak English as a second language.

In the classroom certificated staff provide English Language Development utilizing various assessment tools, to all multilingual learners who are identified with the English Learner Proficiency Assessment of California (ELPAC), a state administered standardized assessment for all second language learners.

The primary goal of the ELD program in the Windsor Unified School district is to develop proficiency in English and in the district’s core curriculum as effectively and as rapidly as possible.

Parents registering their students in the Windsor Unified School District must complete a Home Language Survey, which contains the following questions:

The California Education Code requires schools to determine the languages spoken at home by each student.

1. Which language did your son/daughter learn when he/she first began to talk?

2. What language does your son/daughter most frequently use at home?

3. What language do you most frequently speak to your son/daughter?

4. Name the language most often spoken by the adults at home.

5. What year/grade did your child first enroll in a school in the USA?

This Survey is available in many other languages, so parents can fully understand what they are being asked.

If any of the responses to the first three questions is a language other than English, California Education Code requires that the child be assessed within 30 days of enrollment, using the state-designated assessment instrument, the English Learner Proficiency Assessment of California (ELPAC). Overall English proficiency on this test is identified in one of the three categories:

• Beginning to develop

• Somewhat developed

• Moderately developed

• Well developed 

The appropriate placement and educational program for each student is determined by this assessment.

Parents are notified in writing of their child’s test results, the recommended instructional program for their child based on the assessment results and their option for seeking parental exception waivers from those plans. If they need translation services to fully understand this information, one will be provided for them; these waivers require written informed consent on the part of the parent, an annual request for the waiver and a personal visit to the school to apply for it.

All multilingual learners in elementary grades (K-5) are required to have designated and integrated ELD instruction daily, and access to core curriculum through instructional methods that are readily understandable. This is accomplished by placing them in classrooms with CLAD credentialed teachers who are trained to use SDAIE (Specifically Designed Academic Instruction in English) methods, and by providing designated ELD instruction.  

At the secondary level (6-12), multilingual students will be scheduled into an ELD class on a daily basis. Whenever possible, they will also be scheduled into Sheltered English, Math, Science, and History classes staffed by CLAD certified teachers. 

Instruction for elementary and secondary is rooted in the California English Language Development Standards and the California EL Roadmap.

English Learner Program: 

Choosing a Language Acquisition Program 

Parents or guardians may choose a language acquisition program that best suits their child (EC Section 310). Language acquisition programs are educational programs 

designed to ensure English acquisition occurs as rapidly and effectively as possible. They provide instruction to English learners based on the state-adopted academic 

content standards, including English language development (ELD) standards (20 U.S.C. Section 6312[e][3][A][iii],[v]); EC Section 306[c]). 

Language Acquisition Programs Offered 

We are required to offer, at a minimum, a Structured English Immersion (SEI) program option (EC Section 305[a][2]). 

Structured English Immersion (SEI) Program: A language acquisition program for English learners in which the district in accordance with The California Code of Regulations section 11309, is designed using evidence-based research and includes both Designated and Integrated English Language Development; is allocated sufficient resources by the local educational agency (LEA) to be effectively implemented, including, but not limited to, certificated teachers with the appropriate authorizations, necessary instructional materials, pertinent professional development for the proposed program, and opportunities for parent and community engagement to support the proposed program goals. Within a reasonable period of time, leads to: Grade-level proficiency in English, and Achievement of the state-adopted academic content standards in English. Education Code (EC) sections 305(a)(2) and 306(c)(3). 

Parents or guardians may provide input regarding language acquisition programs during the development of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (EC Section 52062). 

If interested in a different program from those listed above, please contact your child’s school Principal to ask about the process. 

Although schools have an obligation to serve all EL students, parents or guardians of English learners have a right to decline or opt their children out of a school’s EL program or out of particular EL services within an EL program. If parents or guardians opt their children out of a school’s EL program or specific EL services, the children retain their status as English learners. The school remains obligated to take the affirmative steps required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the appropriate actions required by the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974 to provide EL students access to its educational programs (20 U.S.C. sections 1703[f], 6312[e][3][A][viii]). 

To Request the Establishment of a New Program at a School: Schools in which the parents or legal guardians of 30 pupils or more per school or the parents or legal guardians of 20 pupils or more in any grade request a language acquisition program that is designed to provide language instruction shall be required to offer such a program to the extent possible. (EC Section 310[a].)

Reclassification

English Language Learners who have developed adequate proficiency in English will be redesignated as Fluent English Proficient (RFEP) when they can meet the following criteria:

1. ELPAC overall scores in the Well Developed range

2. Scores on the CAASPP or local measure are grade level proficient

3. Teacher Evaluation of student’s academic performance

4. Parent notification and approval