Your Children Need YOU Our Children Need YOU

Your Children Need YOU! Our Children Need YOU! We need YOU!

We are truly becoming a global community, with many diverse cultures, languages and ethnicities creating a new profile of our citizenship That new profile is reflected in our schools as well. Here in Atticus Finch Middle High School We have seen a 10% increase in English Language Learners in the past year. Projections are for that number to increase in the community and our schools. Who Are English Language Learners? “English language learner refers to a person who has a first (home, primary, or native) language other than English and is in the process of acquiring English. ” 1

Some statistics on ELLs in the United States üApproximately 79 percent of ELLs nationally are from Spanish-language backgrounds üWhile English learners reside throughout the United States, they are heavily concentrated in the six states of Arizona, California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois üThese six states contain 61 percent of the nation’s ELL population. üIn addition, the U. S. territory of Puerto Rico accounts for another 1 percent of the U. S. ELL population.

“The responsibility for the ELLs’ whole education, both in language and academic content, is shared by regular classroom teachers and English language assistance teachers alike. ” 4 As teachers we face many situations where culture, traditions, or even family dynamics have a powerful impact on our students —your children.

When those students are also English Language Learners, there can be even greater obstacles for us as teachers, and for them as students. One of the best ways to foster successful learning programs for these students is to enlist positive support from families, from the community, from YOU!!!

In our classrooms, we have policies and procedures to follow to ensure the safety of all of our students. We try to take a positive rather than a punishment approach to our students. In your homes, you can reinforce good behavior by following these tips:

We want to make a commitment to you regarding your children. We will: Take the best care of your children that we can Teach them in the best way to help them develop and prosper Tell them that we value them as individuals

Will you make a commitment to help us keep our commitments by: Making sure that they get to school on time and well -rested? Ensuring that your children are doing their assignments? Responding to calls or emails from teachers who want to discuss how your children are doing in class? For ELL students, these can be particularly important.

If you have a stake of ownership in something, then you take a little more time to keep track of what’s going on, how to improve conditions, how to ensure that your possession is well taken care of. Well, Atticus Finch Middle School belongs to the students, to the families, to the community… To YOU!

Can we count on you to help us help your children?