West Hempstead Union Free School District is a culturally and linguistically diverse school district in Nassau County on Long Island. Within its district, one will find a well implemented and effective ENL program for multilingual students who are learning English as a new language. With 9.7% of the student population being enrolled in an ENL program in the district (Civil, 2021), schools offer stand-alone and inclusion English Language classes at all levels of education. With careful consideration from program advisors, teachers, parents, assessment guidelines, and time the appropriate program and selection of inclusion or stand-alone classes will be given to students who are entering and progressing through the program (West, 2021). Another great feature of West Hempstead UnionN Free School District’s ENL program is their “workshop” classes offered to students who are struggling in different core classes in middle school and high school. In these classes, ENL students continue to focus on their core classes, but they take more time to practice what they are learning in manners that are tailored towards their linguistic needs. These support or workshop classes meet every other day and are a great way for ENL teachers who are in the classroom during their inclusion core classes to assist students where they may need in these classes several days during the week on a set time. The ENL program also extends out of the classroom into the ENL club, where they promote cultural and linguistic diversity through several well planned and carried out events. These events attempt to allow all to feel welcome and partake in the festivities. The students who partake in the club socialize with a large diverse group of students and create different activities and events for students and community members to be a part of after school hours and on the weekends.
What are your school’s/district’s policies regarding culturally and linguistically diverse students? For example, how are cultural, linguistic and religious needs addressed? What do you think needs to be changed or improved? West Hempstead Union Free School District encourages and promotes the diversity of their students. With a majority of the students being Hispanic, Latinx, Asian, and Caribbean (Civil, 2021), the school welcomes all students to represent their culture and heritage in an appropriate manner in school. Whether it is through food, music, clothing, or different favorite past-times of the culture, the faculty of West Hempstead welcome students to bring in and express their cultural backgrounds and to be proud of where they come from. To ensure that students are proud of their culture and heritage and to know that people from all across the world make a difference, there are multiple LED screens placed around the school that display different people from cultures around the world that have had a positive impact on society. The screens show what is assumed to be a powerpoint presentation on repeat that is constantly updated that details an important figure from a particular country and gives a vivid but brief description on their accomplishments and impact on society. The diverse community of West Hempstead includes a number of religions that have different needs and restrictions. Although this has stopped due to COVID, the school is trying to get back to their lunch program that offered different options that were acceptable for people of different religious practices such as the Jewish and Muslim students. The school ensures that all students are aware of the vast holidays that are represented in the many religions that are in the community. From an announcement over the loudspeaker to videos selected by administrators, the school wants to promote and encourage all students' understanding and respect of the beliefs of those around them as often as possible. Linguistically diverse students are also represented through multiple language clubs that celebrate the language and culture of regions all across the world. Students are invited to participate in different culture nights throughout the year that allow students an opportunity to travel the world and experience and learn things they may never have before. Although the district does a great job at promoting the diversity of the student body, students need more time within the classroom to study and explore the vast cultures and regions of the world. Most of the experiences and practices these students partake in with their programs exploring their cultures occurs outside of school time. In order to promote and encourage a sense of pride within the self, students need to be offered consistent time to delve into their cultures to inspire their learning in the classroom. If students are allowed to work with and express their cultures in the classroom, there may even be less of a divide between the ELL students and other students that can be easily seen. Even though many students do participate in the ENL and language clubs activities and events, I believe more students would participate if they were exposed to the cultures in their classrooms at many different points. The deeper inclusion of culture, religion, and linguistics in the classroom would be beneficial for all students and faculty in the school district. West Hempstead encourages the involvement of their ENL students’ parents in all different parts of the school year. Many parents of ENL students assist with the ENL club and the events they put together. The parent of one student is a cook at an authentic Spanish restaurant in New York City and the school set up a field trip with the ENL club and Spanish classes to take a trip there and experience real Spanish cuisine and culture from the art and decor in the restaurant. You will see parents being involved in the culture nights the school throws giving different demonstrations of activities, food preparation, music, etc. of their cultures with detailed explanations of the history of what they are bringing to everybody. Although most of the parents of ENL students get involved with the ENL and language club, parents of ENL students also become involved with different school sports during the school year. The parents tend to get involved when their children are involved in the event. This and the difficulty of language barriers are the main reasons why parents do not get more involved with the school. Most activities and events that do not involve ENL students get a low rate of participation from parents of ENL students. West Hempstead Union Free School District offers many different accommodations for parental involvement. Translators are available upon request for all parent-teacher or administrative meetings. Many of the ENL teachers are fluent in SPanish, which is the majority language other than English in the school district. Teachers help translate when needed for parents during meetings if they are available as well. Another way to help parents get involved is by having all flyers, pamphlets, and information offered in multiple languages. Parents are sent these via email or postal in the languages that are dictated in the information gathered by the school district. West Hempstead also offers a back to school night tailored towards ENL student’s parents. During these nights, the school discusses with the parents the different programs offered in the district as well as the different opportunities for the parents to become involved in their students' academic lives. The presentation is presented in English but the powerpoint slides are sent to the parents in English and their native language, to allow them to refer back to if they need any clarification. My colleagues at West Hempstead School District have very positive attitudes towards ENL students and they understand a lot when it comes to ENL education. While many teachers do research on their own time when they have ENL students in their classrooms, the school also offers professional development that discusses different ways and best methodologies for teaching ENL students. With a large population of ENL students, many teachers understand they need to do what they can to be as best informed as possible to teach their population of students. No teachers seemed turned off to the idea of ENL students and are more than happy to have them in their classrooms if that's where they end up. A great way that I could easily share my ideas and expertise with my non-ESL colleagues is by creating a weekly or monthly pamphlet or email on current strategies, technologies, tools, and practices that can be easily implemented in the classroom to better help their ENL students. I would include videos that would help explain or exemplify what is being brought to the table with instructions on how to use or implement what they would like. This makes it easy for all to be on the same page and implement in the way they see best for their classes. Advocacy is an important part of all lives. When it comes to school and students seen to be in the minority, having a voice to express what is best for them and their education is essential for all students to have an opportunity at an authentic and effective education. This data collection and research opened my eyes to all the school does for their students to receive the best education possible, no matter their backgrounds or cultures. I have realized that advocacy is something that needs to be constantly updated and challenged to be as best as it can be, because at the end of the day the only ones who suffer when they are not advocating for are the students. This research has also opened my eyes to all the possibilities that can be included to create a more cohesive and effective program for ENL students in the district. Over time, I can introduce these topics with colleagues to possibly assist in creating the most dynamic program for all English Language Learners in West Hempstead Union School District. References ED.Gov. (n.d.). West Hempstead Union Free School District Students Enrolled in EL Program. Civil Rights Data Collection. Retrieved from https://ocrdata.ed.gov/profile/9/district/50086/studentsenrolledinlep. West hempsead Union Free School District. (2021). West Hempstead Union Free School District. English as a New Language. Retrieved from https://www.whufsd.com/page/english-as-a-new-language. |