District summer language academy showcased in San Francisco; parents and teachers praised model

The meeting opened with a report on the district's summer language academy, including a recent presentation in San Francisco that organizers said demonstrated the program's instructional approach and community value.

The Chair described the academy as a Julie-led effort supporting newcomers, long-term English learners and dual-language learners and said the presentation drew interest from multiple districts. “Vimos en persona el conocimiento profundo que tiene nuestro equipo,” the Chair said, noting district leadership also praised the work.

Organizers described sessions that focused on academic language and academic conversation (a session led by Ms. Soto at Rogers) and a separate workshop run by Marilyn and Chair that asked teachers to review writing samples from preschool through middle school to set exemplar targets. The goal, speakers said, was to identify instructional entry points and collaborate on tools teachers can take back to their sites.

Why it matters: The summer academy is presented as a locally developed model for supporting multilingual learners and as a practice the district hopes other schools will adopt. That adoption would affect instruction at multiple grade levels and inform DELAC input on English learner programming.

What remains to be clarified: The transcript records praise and interest from visiting districts but does not include formal evaluation metrics or external reports. Organizers offered to share slides and materials with site teams and encouraged replication across schools.

Next steps: Presenters will share materials with schools and continue to incorporate parent and teacher feedback into instructional planning.