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Norfolk Public Schools highlights English‑learner supports serving students across 17 languages
Summary
District ELL teachers and students presented an overview of services and classroom practices, reporting 340 identified English‑learner students across the district and examples of classroom strategies and newcomer supports.
Norfolk Public Schools’ English language learner (ELL) team presented to the Board Wednesday evening, describing districtwide services for students identified as English learners and showcasing classroom examples from elementary through high school.
Beth Shaner, speaking for the district ELL team, said Norfolk Public Schools serves 340 ELL students who speak 17 languages and stressed that ELL instruction focuses on both language development and access to grade‑level content. “These students are not only learning English, they are developing skills to help them succeed academically and be meaningful members of our community,” Shaner said.
Teachers from multiple buildings described classroom practices: breaking complex sentences into shorter segments, using cognates and visuals, providing word banks and sentence stems, targeted phonics and phonemic awareness for early readers, and newcomer language units that rotate on two‑week cycles. High school ELL teacher Esmeralda Martinez reported 92 students at the senior high with three teachers and three paraprofessionals supporting them; junior high and elementary presenters described vocabulary‑focused activities, hands‑on learning, and materials such as student notebooks that travel with newcomers.
Several students joined the presentation and spoke briefly about what they’re learning in ELL classes, mentioning gains in reading, speaking and classroom confidence.
District leaders said the ELL program coordinates with grade‑level teachers to provide accommodations and supports so ELL students can participate in the same science, social studies, math and electives as their peers. The board received the presentation as information; no board action was required.
