ENGLEWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BERGEN COUNTY
World Languages Model Program Designation: Elementary School
K-5 World Languages Dual Immersion Program
Visitation Dates:
Please contact the world languages supervisor, Mercedes Gil, to arrange a visitation date. Visitations will occur from October to May with the exception of weeks when state mandated assessments are being administered.
Visitation Procedures:
Visitations begin 8:30 a.m. at the Russell C. Major Liberty School, 12 Tenafly Road, Englewood, NJ in Room #113 The world languages supervisor will provide an overview of the elementary dual immersion program that includes information on curriculum as well as assessment data on student achievement. Visitors will have the opportunity to observe classes at K-5 grade levels. A debriefing session will be provided at the conclusion of the visit.
Contact Information:
Mercedes Gil
Bilingual/ World Languages Supervisor
Englewood Public School
12 Tenafly Road
Englewood, NJ 07631
mgil@epsd.org
(201) 862-6262
For directions, email Ms. Gil.
District Demographics:
Approximately 3,015 students are enrolled in the Englewood Public Schools (Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12). There is an Annex serving children in Pre-K and an Early Childhood School serving Pre-K and Grade 1. In addition, there are two elementary schools for Grades 2-5. The Englewood Public School community consists of a diverse student population: 59% is African American; 38%, Latino American; 2.0%, Asian American; and 1.0% European American.
Program Description:
The dual immersion program facilitates the development of the student’s first language and the acquisition of a second language through the content of the elementary curriculum while using various research-based approaches and techniques. All instructional activities are presented to students in a parallel mode in both target languages (English and Spanish). Students in the district’s dual immersion program have consistently outperformed students not enrolled in the program at all grade levels on statewide assessments. Longitudinal assessment data is available.
PRINCETON REGIONAL SCHOOLS
MERCER COUNTY
World Languages Model Program Designation: K-12
K-12 World Languages Program
Visitation Dates:
Visitations begin October 2008. Please e-mail Priscilla Russel to arrange a visitation at least two weeks in advance.
Visitation Procedures:
Visitations begin at 8:30 a.m. or 7:50 a.m. (depending on level) at one of the schools in the district. When requesting a visitation, it is necessary to indicate the desired grade levels and languages and preferred duration of the visit. Visitors may observe classes at the elementary, middle and/ or high school level(s). Princeton currently offers Spanish in Grades K-5, Spanish or French in Grades 6-8 and French, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin and Spanish in Grades 9-12.
Contact Information:
Priscilla Russel
District Supervisor of World Languages and ESL/Bilingual Programs
Princeton High School (Directions may be accessed at: www.prs.k12.nj.us.)
151 Moore Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 806-4280 x 3252
Priscilla_Russel@monet.prs.k12.nj.us
Demographics:
The Princeton Regional School District serves two intertwined municipalities, Princeton Borough and Princeton Township. Students represent all major racial and cultural groups, and speak many languages ranging from Arabic to Vietnamese. 24% of the students claim 1 of 52 languages other than English as their first tongue.
The Princeton Regional Schools enroll approximately 3,400 students in six schools. The six schools serve students through a combination of neighborhood or centralized sites. The four elementary schools- Community Park (348 students), Riverside School (333 students), Littlebrook School (383 students), and Johnson Park School (410 students) include full-day Kindergarten through fifth Grade and pre-K classes.
World Languages Program:
Students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 have Spanish class four times per week. Contact time increases from 60 minutes per week in Grades K-2 to 120 minutes per week in Grades 3-5. Each elementary school has one Spanish teacher for Grades 3-5. Two additional Spanish teachers divide their teaching schedule between two schools in Kindergarten through Grade 2. The content of the elementary curriculum forms the basis of instruction in all language classes.
The John Witherspoon Middle School enrolls almost 700 students in Grades 6-8. Students choose either French or Spanish as their language of study throughout the middle school grades where they meet every day for a full period of instruction. Second language learning is an integral part of the core academic program where language teachers function within the House system with a French and Spanish teacher for each grade level.
Princeton High School has an enrollment of approximately 1350 students who study French, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin and Spanish. The school offers AP courses in Spanish, French, and Japanese and cinema seminar courses in French and Spanish.
WEST ORANGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ESSEX COUNTY
World Languages Model Program Designation: Elementary and High School
K-5 Elementary Spanish Program and High School Heritage Spanish Program
Visitation Dates:
Visitations begin October 2008. Please e-mail Ed Acevedo to arrange a visitation at least one week in advance. Visitation teams will be limited to four educators per visit.
Visitation Procedures:
Visitations begin 8:45 a.m. at one of the schools in the district. When requesting a visitation, it is helpful to indicate the desired grade levels and preferred duration of the visit. Visitors may observe the elementary Spanish or high school Spanish Heritage program. Each visitation will begin with a program orientation and conclude with a debriefing session.
Contact Information:
Ed Acevedo
District Supervisor of World Languages, K-12
West Orange High School
51 Conforti Ave
West Orange, NJ 07052
(973) 669-5301 ext. 274
eacevedo@woboe.org
Demographics:
West Orange, New Jersey is primarily a residential community of approximately 46,000 residents in the center of Essex County less than 20 miles west of New York City. The population is culturally diverse and spans all economic strata. Its 12.6 square miles are spread over two ridges and valley of the Watchung Mountains. The West Orange Public Schools system educates approximately 6,300 students in seven elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school.
World Languages Program
Students in Kindergarten and grade 1 receive Spanish through comprehensible input once a week for thirty minutes through the SALSA Video program. In grades 2-5, students receive Spanish from a certified Spanish teacher twice a week for a total contact time of 75 minutes per week. There are seven elementary Spanish teachers, one in each school.
In eighth grade students may choose to continue to study Spanish or begin to study Mandarin Chinese, French or Italian. West Orange High School has an enrollment of approximately 2,000 students, who continue in the study of the language of their choice or begin the study of a new language. The school offers A.P. courses in French, Italian and Spanish. The Heritage Spanish courses are designed for students who are already proficient in the language and are responsive to their specific needs. Since the study of these courses is planned according to proficiencies, courses are available to students in grades 9-12 in one of the following courses: Beginning, Intermediate or Pre-Advanced Heritage Spanish. Once completing the heritage sequence, students advance to the A.P. Spanish language course and culminate with the A.P. Spanish Literature course. The Heritage Spanish courses address expanded communication in Spanish by including academic and professional contexts and purposes, a variety of materials at respectful reading levels, expanded vocabulary, writing for academic, professional and literary purposes and use of different discourse styles and registers.
WEST WINDSOR-PLAINSBORO REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
MERCER/MIDDLESEX COUNTIES
World Languages Model Program Designation: Elementary and Middle School
K-8 World Languages Program
Visitation Dates:
Beginning October 2008, visitations will be scheduled by individual request through the supervisor of world languages at least one week in advance of the proposed visit. Districts are asked to limit the visitation team to five educators.
Visitation Procedures:
Visitations begin at Community Middle School, located at 55 Grovers Mill Road, Plainsboro, NJ with an orientation on the district philosophy of second language learning. The orientation also includes a review of curricular, instructional and assessment materials, and a brief question-and-answer session with available teachers and administrators. The world languages supervisor will accompany visitors to selected elementary and/or middle school classes. The visit will conclude with a debriefing session.
Contact Information:
Rosanne Zeppieri
Supervisor of World Languages K-8 (rosanne.zeppieri@ww-p.org)
Community Middle School (Directions may be accessed at: www.ww-p.org.)
55 Grovers Mill Road
Plainsboro, NJ 08536
(609) 716-5000, Ext. 5282
Demographics:
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District has served the municipalities of West Windsor Township and Plainsboro Township since its formation in 1969. Students represent all major racial and cultural groups (46 percent White, 43 percent Asian, 6 percent African American, and 5 percent Hispanic) and come from homes representing 33 different heritage languages. Enrollment in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District has changed dramatically over the past 15 years. In 1993, there were just over 6,000 students; in 2007-2008, there are 9,712 students. The elementary school enrollment is 6,615 and the high school enrollment totals 3,097 students.
World Languages Program:
The elementary and middle school world languages program was implemented in September 1999. All classes are taught by language specialists and curriculum is based on units of study from other content areas. Performance-based assessment is ongoing and embedded in instructional activities. Currently, students in the lower elementary grades have Spanish twice a week for a total of 80 minutes of instruction. Before moving to Grade 4, students choose between continuing Spanish or beginning Mandarin Chinese. Each year, a sampling of students is interviewed in Grades 2-5 using the Simulated Oral Proficiency Assessment (SOPA) model for program evaluation purposes. As students enter Grade 6, they choose to continue Spanish or Chinese or enroll in entry-level classes in French or German for a three-year sequence of study at the middle level. World Languages are part of the middle school academic program with classes meeting daily for 40 minutes.
West Windsor-Plainsboro has been engaged in a long-term professional development initiative funded by a federal grant in collaboration with East Brunswick, Edison, and West Orange. With the assistance of national experts, consortium teachers created more than eighty-five, thematically organized, performance-based assessment units and have posted assessment tasks, rubrics, and supporting materials on the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey website, www.flenj.org.
