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District 15 expands bilingual preschool and reports steady gains for multilingual students
Summary
The district outlined expansion of bilingual preschool classes, reported improved reading and English‑proficiency metrics for multilingual students, and described family engagement and teacher‑training initiatives supporting biliteracy.
District 15’s multilingual programs team presented data showing multi‑year growth in literacy measures and described program expansions for the 2025–26 school year, including added bilingual preschool seats and new language program offerings.
Renee Urbanski, assistant superintendent for multilingual programs, told the board the district serves 3,657 multilingual students speaking more than 80 languages and that the top languages include Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian, Japanese, Polish, Telugu and Bulgarian. Urbanski said the district implemented full‑day bilingual preschool for 60 students last year and will open three additional classrooms at CLA to accommodate roughly 120 more bilingual learners this year; the team also plans two Spanish bilingual early childhood classroom seats for students with more significant needs.
Data presented by Angelica Brifgani showed multi‑year improvement on Spanish foundational literacy measures: kindergarten Spanish letter‑sound proficiency rose from 32 percent at or above the 40th percentile in 2022 to 56 percent in 2025; first‑grade measures likewise improved; and second‑grade measures moved from 7 percent meeting a fluency benchmark in 2021 to 56 percent in 2025. At the middle school level the number of students meeting Access exit criteria rose from 24 in 2024 to 49 in 2025, and students placed in the “next to exit” category rose from 89 to 128 in the same period.
Urbanski and colleagues said the district will continue to focus on writing and advanced academic language where growth is slower and will emphasize small‑group instruction, metalinguistic awareness, and expanded teacher coaching. The presentation also noted that former EL students monitored after exit perform well academically — nearly 80 percent score at or above the 40th percentile on district reading assessments in their first two years post‑exit.
Family and community engagement initiatives were highlighted: the multilingual office ran newcomer summer programs, dual‑language culture camps, and summer family nights with simultaneous translation in Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Ukrainian. Melissa Dominguez described a parent mentor program that logged more than 5,000 volunteer hours and will expand to a fifth school this year.
Teacher capacity building was a key goal. The district is running cohorts for bilingual reading specialist endorsements and for ESL/bilingual endorsements using state and university partnerships; the multilingual team said the district will have dozens of additional certified bilingual or ESL teachers in the next year as cohorts finish.
Ending: The board heard a mix of positive growth metrics and targeted improvement areas. Administrators said expansions in bilingual early childhood seats, strengthened family engagement, and continued teacher credentialing are central to sustaining gains in biliteracy and English proficiency.
