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District 203 outlines expansion of multilingual services, reports drop in refusals
Summary
District 203 staff presented an update on EC–12 multilingual services and a plan to expand multilingual programming to home schools across levels; presenters reported a sharp decline in refusals of services and described steps to improve family communication, progress monitoring and newcomer supports.
District 203 administrators presented a detailed update Monday on the district’s EC–12 multilingual services and on a multi-year expansion to move multilingual supports into students’ home schools.
Assistant Superintendent Jane Willard and Dr. Madaba Guerrero, director of language acquisition, told the Board of Education the district has been shifting toward an asset-based approach—referring to students as multilingual—and building instruction around WIDA language-development standards and state guidance.
Presenters described program components across levels: early childhood classrooms with ESL-certified staff and two Spanish transitional bilingual education (TBE) classrooms (described as approximately 80 percent Spanish/20 percent English), elementary-level co-teaching and pull-out models and five elementary schools offering a dual-language lottery. At junior-high level, multilingual services are now available in all junior highs and include co-taught English language arts blocks and WIN ("What I Need") multilingual courses. At the high school level, presenters said leveled ESL courses and sheltered instruction are available at Naperville Central and Naperville North, and the district is working to align supports with graduation requirements and postsecondary readiness.
Staff presented a breakdown of multilingual students by level and identified operational priorities: consistent family communication tools (including multilingual templates and AI-powered translation supports), a newcomer protocol to streamline enrollment and teacher notification, alignment of curriculum with WIDA standards, and professional learning for teachers (SIOP, co-teaching and other strategies).
On outcomes, Dr. Guerrero said the district has reduced refusals of services and that in grades where the shift has been completed—sixth and seventh grades—there had been only one refusal in sixth grade and one refusal in seventh grade. A board member asked how much of the decline came from improved outreach and how much came from program design; presenters said the decline appears to be related to offering services in students’ home schools, clearer family communications and targeted outreach.
Dr. Guerrero also described monitoring and assessments used to guide instruction and progress to proficiency, including ACCESS, IAR and MAP, and discussed efforts to remove barriers to extracurricular and other campus-wide opportunities for multilingual students.
Ending
District staff said the expansion will continue in phases through the 2026–27 school year, with ongoing professional development and work to align data systems and communications. Staff invited follow-up questions and said further implementation details and metrics would be provided to the board and posted in BoardDocs.
