Fall River Schools partner with Boston College for ESL curriculum enhancement

The Fall River City Instructional Subcommittee meeting on July 3, 2025, focused on enhancing educational partnerships and curriculum development for multilingual learners. Key discussions revolved around a new collaboration with Boston College to implement a curriculum based on systemic functional linguistics, aimed at improving writing instruction for students in grades 4 and 5 across three schools.

The initiative, which is supported by a grant application for $100,000, seeks to provide targeted resources for both multilingual learners and native English speakers. The partnership with Boston College will allow educators to develop units that integrate this pedagogy into core classes, offering flexibility in teaching models for English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The program is designed to be a pilot project, starting with a small group of teachers who have shown strong interest in the approach.

Additionally, the subcommittee announced a formal partnership with Bridgewater State University to launch two graduate cohorts focused on special education and ESL. This initiative aims to address staffing challenges in these critical areas by providing cost-effective training options for current and prospective educators. The program will leverage the TEACH grant and existing tuition reimbursement opportunities, making it an attractive option for teachers looking to advance their qualifications.

Overall, the meeting underscored Fall River's commitment to improving educational outcomes for diverse learners through strategic partnerships and innovative curriculum development. The next steps include finalizing grant details and continuing recruitment efforts for the new graduate programs.