📝 Hillside EL News 🍎

👋 Hello families,

Meet the EL team at Hillside Elementary!

(From left to right: Mrs. Raja, Ms. Arredondo, Mrs. Snyder, Mrs. Kim, Ms. Vidhya and River 🐕)

We will collaborate with classroom teachers to combine language instruction with core content, ensuring our English Language Learners (ELLs) receive comprehensive support.

In this week’s update:

1. Letter with WIDA scores

2. Important dates and resources

3. A note from our team

We have sent out a letter that contains student's WIDA score report and a consent form for you to sign to ensure your children will get our EL support. Please choose and mark the options on the consent letter, sign and have your child take it to school. They can turn it in to their classroom teachers, and the classroom teachers will send the letters over to us.

If you have any questions regarding WIDA scores or the consent letter, please email us at:

• Mrs. Snyder: kathleen.snyder@fpsk12.net

• Mrs. Kim: jia.kim@fpsk12.net

Here are a few important dates:

• September 23rd - Dentists - R - Us Visits

• September 21st - No School (Yom Kippur)

• September 23rd - 25th - 5th Grade Camp
• October 2nd - Fun Run
• October 6th - Picture Day

In case you didn't get a chance to participate in the parent orientation night on Sep. 9th, or if you were here but haven't got a chance to meet with us, or forgot to pick up a copy of the documents we were giving out, we are attaching the EL Parent Handbook here. The EL Parent Handbook is a guide published by Farmington Public Schools for parents of English Learners (EL), who are students learning English as a second language.

At Hillside, our EL team collaborates with classroom teachers to support all students by building their core language skills, adapting academic content, and helping them adjust to a new culture. We support students when they are in their classroom learning and when they are in small groups doing specific targeted activities. We strongly encourage EL families to speak your home language to your children at home, it actually will strengthen your children's ability to learn English at School.

Here is why this happens, based on how the brain processes language:

1. Concepts Transfer Easily

When a child understands a concept in their first language, they only need to learn the new English label for it at school—not the entire concept from scratch.

• Example: If a child already understands the scientific concept of photosynthesis or how a fraction works in their native language, they just have to learn the English words for those ideas. They don't have to struggle to learn both math/science and the language at the same time.

2. Building a "Language Foundation"

Skills like storytelling, vocabulary, and grammar rules transfer between languages. A child who learns to listen carefully, follow a plot, and express complex thoughts in their home language builds strong brain pathways for communication. Those exact same pathways are used to master English.

3. Boosting Brain Power (Cognitive Flexibility)

Switching between two languages makes the brain more flexible. Studies show that bilingual children often develop stronger problem-solving skills and better focus because their brains are constantly practicing sorting and choosing information.

4. Emotional Comfort and Confidence

Home should be a safe space where communication flows naturally and deeply. When parents speak their most fluent language, they can share complex ideas, tell rich stories, and give comfort easily. This emotional security creates a confident learner who is less stressed and more ready to take risks when learning English at school.

5. Preventing "Subtracting" a Language

If a family stops speaking the home language, the child may lose it before fully mastering English. This can lead to a gap where they are not fully fluent in either language, which actually slows down academic progress.

Our EL team here at Hillside Elementary believes that every student's native language and culture are powerful assets.

We are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment where multilingualism, diverse traditions are celebrated, and every learner feels a deep sense of belonging.

By weaving our students' rich cultural backgrounds into our daily practices, we enrich our entire school community and prepare future leaders for a more connected world.