Communication
When I can go to an international audience and I can have the whole audience in Germany, Spain, America, all over the world, and they're singing Mandinka? That is the power of music. It becomes a universal language. I can talk with anybody from anywhere in the world using music. I can't do that in any other form.
-Sona Jobarteh
Sona Jobarteh at UVM Recital Hall
Sona Jobarteh recently held a concert at the UVM Recital Hall. In addition to being a famous musician, Sona Jobarteh founded The Gambia Academy in 2015, an educational institute in Kartong that teaches music, post-colonial history, cultural studies, and vocational skills, aiming to educate young Africans in their culture, traditions, and history. The Lane Series at UVM offers a series of multicultural concerts to check out and they offer a significant student discount.
Upcoming Vermont Conference!
I am delighted to share information about an upcoming conference hosted by Burlington School District Department of Multilingual Learners, with support from the Vermont Office of Refugee Resettlement. The conference is called Welcome ALL: From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, which reflects Burlington School District's commitment to refugee and immigrant background students, and to ALL students. Miriam would also like to personally invite you to participate, whether as a presenter, panelist, discussion leader, tabler, volunteer or learner/community member.
EWSD Multicultural Festival!
The EWSD Multicultural Festival is on May 2nd, 2025 in the Essex High School gym. A big thank you to EHS teacher and EWSD Multilingual Council member Tracy Muzerall for leading the event! Here is a news story about the event last year. We hope you will join the event this year!
Catamount Clinic
The University of Vermont Counseling Program and Spectrum Youth and Family have partnered to offer in-person counseling services for teens, adults and families. This is a free mental health clinic. Services are provided by counselors in training from UVM and under the supervision of a licensed clinical supervisor. The clinic is located at 31 Elmwood Ave in Burlington. If interested in services, email aelloiott@spectrumvt.org or call (802) 864-7423 ext 331. You can also follow the QR code on the flyer below and request to be contacted.
Adventures in Vermont!
We are celebrating students exploring the community in Spring! Marina's CTE students visited the Fleming Museum of Art to explore and connect with local culture. The trip provided an opportunity to engage with artistic expressions while making connections among the students themselves.
Upcoming Webinar- Newcomer SLIFE Students
CVEDC is hosting a 4 part webinar series addressing the needs of newcomer multilingual SLIFE students in Vermont schools starting April 2nd.
This series is an overview of topics schools should consider when supporting newcomer students, including: What to do when new students arrive, how to welcome new families, language acquisition basics and strategies for supporting newcomer SLIFE students in content classes.
A big thank you to Mary and Kirsten for leading this and for sharing the link!
VT AOE Clustering Guidance for Principals
The AOE has released guidance about clustering ML-ELs (multilingual learners-English learners). Clustering ML-ELs in content classrooms offers academic, linguistic, and socio-emotional advantages for students. It can also ensure EL teachers are able to provide services to all of their EL students and it facilitates opportunities for collaboration between the EL teacher and classroom teacher. A big thank you to VT Title III Director Stephanie Vogel for creating user friendly one pagers!
FREE High Quality Professional Development for Classroom Teachers!
AOE's intra-agency Read Vermont team is happy to announce an opportunity to participate in free professional development. This training would support classroom teachers in understanding how to address literacy for multilingual learners in the content areas using evidence-based practices. This program is focused specifically on K-8 content areas but is widely applicable to all students. Ideally an EL Specialist or administrator would attend with several content teachers. Please complete the attached survey form. Contacts: Emily Lesh emily.lesh@vermont.gov Stephanie Vogel stephanie.vogel@vermont.gov
Multilingual Special Education Symposium
You are invited to join practitioners, educators, administrators and researchers, who serve students at the intersection of multilingual education and special education from across the US and Canada to our two-day virtual symposium. Symposium speakers this year bring strength-based practices, deep collaborative experience and current knowledge in optimizing learning for our multilingual neurodiverse students. The program includes opportunities to learn together through reflection and exchange of ideas, experiences, and resources.
Full Program: https://www.paridad.us/_files/ugd/5f479f_187ed2432ba14ed287eb4f213ea323fa.pdf
Learn More: https://www.paridad.us/multilingualspecialeducations
Register here: https://paridad.wufoo.com/forms/sucg44l1udwe17/
Literacy and Multilingual Learners
Are you curious about the intersection of the Science of Reading and how multilingual learners learn English? Click here to read the latest report titled: Voices from the Field: Impact of the Implementation of the Science of Reading Instruction and Policy on Emergent Bilingual/English Learner Literacy Programs and Teachers by Dr. Kathy Escamilla and Dr. Kimberly Strong.
Stanford Professor Dr. Goldenberg also discusses the intersection of English language acquisition and the science of reading in his video presentation here.
A big thank you to Mary DeSimone for sharing these resources!
Updated Lau-EL Program Plan
Every year, we evaluate the EWSD EL program using data and input from those who are connected to the English Language program in EWSD. We use the results of the evaluation and input from our community to revise and adjust our Lau-EL Program plan. The most up to date version of the Lau-EL Program plan is posted on the EWSD website and you can also view it here. If you are an EWSD community member and would like to share feedback about the Lau-EL program plan, or have questions, please contact tparks@ewsd.org.
Workshops at Essex High School for Teachers and Staff
During the March 2025 inservice, the EHS Equity Team designed and led professional development workshops for all faculty and staff. The workshops covered topics such as:
Adolescence and Child development, Neurodiversity, Addiction, Supporting People While in School Care, Supporting our Trans Community, Supporting Students Impacted by Immigration and Tier 2 Intervention.
EHS workshop leaders received positive feedback from the school community and look forward to planning Professional Development for our faculty and staff in the future.
Celebrating EWSD EL PLC Teacher Leadership!
The EWSD K-8 English Learner PLC (professional learning community team) has been making great strides in developing strategies to support EWSD students' speaking and writing skills. In our last meeting, K-8 EL teachers used district data to identify speaking and writing as skills we need to focus on. Then they created a district wide grid with "look fors" for speaking and writing skills based on a students' ACCESS level. A big thank you to Terri, Courtney, Mary and Tyler for all that you do!
Support for Families
Celebrating Year 2 of EWSD Workplace English Classes
The EWSD is proud to offer a comprehensive support program for multilingual employees, including Workplace English classes, translation services, and a mentorship initiative. CTE ML teacher Marina Brzostoski leads the Workplace English classes, which she carefully designed to address participants' professional, personal, and educational objectives. The program pairs new multilingual employees with experienced mentors, providing targeted support and guidance. These well-attended classes recognize the diverse backgrounds of adult learners, focusing on practical language development. Interested EWSD employees are encouraged to inquire about the program. Click here to see the flyer.
Benefits of Bilingualism
Learning more than one language is an asset to individuals, families, and our entire society.
Early childhood teachers can share the benefits of bilingualism with families and their communities, find ways to support children’s home languages, and encourage families to keep their language strong.
Developing the child’s home language provides the foundation for reading and writing, preparing children to be biliterate.
Researchers have found many benefits to being bilingual and biliterate. Click here to see just a few!
Vermont Migrant Education Program
Families and farmworkers often face barriers when it comes to accessing education. Vermont Migrant Education Program (VMEP) staff works hard to eliminate barriers and bridge the gap between resources and students. If you know of an EWSD family member who has worked or is working in farming or agriculture in Vermont and they are interested in being connected with this program, please let your school's EL teacher know.
Vermont Multilingual Program Coordinators and Directors Support Group
The Vermont Multilingual Program Coordinators and Directors Support Group is a group that meets monthly with the goal of fostering meaningful collaboration, advocacy, and inclusivity among educators who serve multilingual learners across the state. We are inclusive of anyone who runs any part of a multilingual program no matter your title, so please don't hesitate to join! If you are interested in joining the support group, please email tparks@ewsd.org.
McKinney Vento Program
If your family lives in any of these situations:
- In a shelter
- In a motel or campground due to the lack of an alternative adequate accommodation
- In a car, park, abandoned building, or bus or train station
- Doubled up with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship
Your school-age children may qualify for certain rights and protections under the federal McKinney-Vento Act. Please see the flyer below for more information.
If you are an educator and know of a family who may qualify, please ask your school's McKinney Vento liaison to fill out the referral form. Your school's McKinney Vento liaison will either be the administrator or a designated counselor.
The EWSD is Hiring!
Open Job List
Come work with us in the EWSD! Please see the link below for the full list:
https://ewsd.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx
Language Support
The amazing EWSD Language Access Team created videos in multiple languages to share with families. There is a phone number applicants can call to leave a message with an interpreter who will help them apply. The link for the translated videos is below. The videos are provided in Nepali, Vietnamese, Spanish, Swahili and French. We hope to add more videos soon.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkrb-d3iMBwYb_gPfEyImUhhylRyGKXE1
St. Michael's College EL Endorsement
Dozens of languages other than English are now spoken in the homes of many of Vermont’s school children. EL teachers provide the bridge for learning for these students.
Licensed teachers interested in earning an additional endorsement in teaching English Language Learners, may do so through the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, the Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MATESOL) program (36 credits), or as a stand-alone Certificate in Teaching English Language Learners program (18 credits).
All three programs prepare successful candidates to teach English learners in Vermont public schools in grades PK-12.
The Intersection of Multilingual Learners and Special Education
Evaluating students for special education who are multilingual and learning English requires additional considerations. EWSD teachers and leaders have developed this tool to support teams in that process. We want to provide this resource to help with special education referral and determination for multilingual learners.
Special Education Referral & Determination Checklist for Students Receiving EL Services
For EWSD Staff: After reviewing the checklists, please let us know what types of follow-up would be most helpful by completing this short survey.
Image source: Colorin Colorado
Multilingual Advisory Council
Multilingual Program Web Page
Here are a few links you may find helpful:
EWSD Multilingual Program
Email: tparks@ewsd.org
Website: https://www.ewsd.org/page/multilingual-learner-program
Phone: (802) 857-2008