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A lack of English proficiency can present significant barriers for students, impacting their educational progress and their ability to socialize at school. However, the parents of English learners who may have little or no proficiency in the language can also be limited in their interactions with the community and in their understanding of their child’s day-to-day education.
Soon, adult English classes offered by the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District may help bridge that gap. The program is an outgrowth of concerns expressed by the parents of English-learning students to teachers and staff during quarterly meetings of the three district schools’ advisory committees.
According to English learner teacher Sara Perez, when the parents expressed an interest in accessing English classes similar to the ones their children attend, she reached out to “anybody and everybody I could” to make it a reality.
“What the parents deemed important,” Perez said, “was how a lack of English skills hindered their daily lives. And they’d like to connect more with their children. Sometimes they have to deal with things that come home from school, for example, written in a language they can’t understand.”
Perez said this language barrier between parent and child can be detrimental, as the students may stop sharing details of their school life and experiences when they come home.
“It’s not just the homework,” she said. “There’s not as much communication as a child gets older. The children feel like their parents can’t relate, and the parents are kept from full access to what’s happening in the classroom.”
The district is working with Gavilan College to provide an instructor to offer twice-a-week classes for free. The trial program will start in August and will run for one semester. Applicants do not have to provide Identification, documentation or proof of immigration status.
“They don’t need prior schooling or transcripts,” Perez said. “We just take a baseline assessment to determine their English level. Other than that, the only requirement is a willingness to learn.”
Curriculum and Instruction Director Jivan Dhaliwal said the district wants to create a comfortable environment for parents and make it easy for them to attend classes.
“It is important that we build multilingualism,” she said. “We try to write things like this into our school plans and then allocate funding. We honor biliteracy, and I think that’s something our district wants to be known for. ”
Dhaliwal knows first-hand the problems of living in a place and needing to learn a language other than the one she speaks.
“I could access more when I knew the language,” she said. “I could participate. I could advocate for myself. It just made me feel more comfortable.”
The district’s program for its students is effective, as evidenced by the number of students who passed the state’s rigorous English language proficiency assessment this year.
“The students need to take it every year until they succeed,” Perez said. “We started with 300 English learners this year, and we have been able to reclassify 51 of them. This is a huge milestone, and we are very excited.”
Perez said that the students who do not speak English proficiently tend to stay together in the same group, but as they become more proficient, they are better able to socialize across the student body.
“It opens up a new world for them,” she said. “They become more confident. They’re more vocal. And it translates to the playground, where making new friends becomes much easier.”
Perez said 30 parents have already signed up for the English learning classes, but she hopes even more will attend.
“Our goal is to keep it going and see how successful it is,” she said. “I want as many parents or community members attending as possible. I want to see so many that we might have to turn some away.”
Parents interested in taking the English learner classes can contact Perez at (831)623-4500, ext. 1261 or by email at sperez@asjusd.org.
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