ESL Department

Email: tstaples@mcssk12.org

Website: https://www.mcssk12.org/department/federal-programs/english-learners

Phone: 256-852-2557 ext. 62245

Happy September MCSS Family!

My name is Tanya Staples and I am the new Federal Programs ESL Resource Specialist for MCSS. I am so excited to join the Madison County team and have enjoyed getting to know our ESL Specialists over the past several weeks. As I have traveled from school to school, one thing has been very clear, in Madison County Schools we are one big family. I have witnessed the care given to students as they navigated first day jitters, the smiles on students and teachers faces as they reunite after a fun summer break, and the work teachers are doing to set consistent routines within their classrooms. My travels have also shown me how cared for our ELLs are within our schools by teachers, ESL Specialists and administrators, as well as the support staff within the schools. I want to thank you for welcoming our ELLs to school this year. As I always tell people, even though a language barrier may sometimes stand in the way of communicating through spoken or written words, a SMILE can bridge all gaps regardless of what language we speak.

Please read through our first newsletter of the year for some helpful tips & tricks, the contacts for our ESL team and updates from our 2025 Access for ELs assessment. I am here to help, so please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

I wish you all a wonderful year ahead!

Tanya Staples

ESL Resource Specialist

Check out the video below for a how-to tutorial on finding your student's information in Ellevation. Video Credit: Heather Ray, ESL Specialist for Buckhorn Middle & High Schools

Ellevation has many instructional strategies you can use with all of your students across content areas. Watch the video below to learn how to access the strategies, filter by grade level and domain, see videos of the strategies in action and get sample lesson ideas for various content areas.

With the new Ellevation Strategies dashboard, you will be able to see data about all of your ELLs, find various professional development modules for teachers, and view strategies teachers can use in the classroom to best support our students.

Our ELLs showed great growth over the 2024-2025 school year as evidenced by the ACCESS for ELLs assessment taken earlier this year. We are so proud of the hard work our students, ESL specialists and classroom teachers put in to meet their goals! Our ESL enrollment continues to grow, with over 690 active ELs this school year and 32 different languages. Our goal this year will be to continue to help our students meet and exceed their growth targets by making sure our ELs received high quality instruction using best practices in ESL education.

This Ellevation Strategy is designed to foster interactions with academic conversations through the use of guided practice with content-related discussions. These discussions will help familiarize students with important conversational moves so they can engage in more authentic academic interactions. You can find this strategy, along with sample lessons for various content areas and a video of it being put into action, under the Ellevation Strategies tab.

Hazel Green High School

Walnut Grove Elementary School

kharper@mcssk12.org

Harvest Elementary School

mlopez@mcssk12.org

Endeavor Elementary

tamis@mcssk12.org

Legacy Elementary

Madison County Virtual Academy (MCVA)

rbansal@mcssk12.org

Meridianville Middle School

abergeson@mcssk12.org

Madison Cross Roads Elementary

kdarnell@mcssk12.org

Sparkman Middle School

selledge@mcssk12.org

Riverton Intermediate School

Riverton Elementary School

Mt. Carmel Elementary School

agarcia@mcssk12.org

Sparkman 9

Monrovia Elementary

ahenson@mcssk12.org

Sparkman High School

amcconnell@mcssk12.org

Buckhorn Middle School

Buckhorn High School

hray@mcssk12.org

Moores Mill Intermediate School

Lynn Fanning Elementary School

csaxon@mcssk12.org

Hazel Green Elementary

New Market Elementary

estults@mcssk12.org

Central School

Madison County High School

Owens Cross Roads Elementary School

sthrelkeld@mcssk12.org

Monrovia Middle School

hcwatkins@mcssk12.org

New Hope Elementary School

New Hope High School

Madison County Elementary School

syoung@mcssk12.org

Supporting our ELLs in the literacy classroom can provide unique challenges for both students and teachers as students are learning grade level content, while also trying to learn the English language. Click on the link below to read about best practices from WIDA as well as resources and tools you can use in your classrooms.