English Language Learners (ELL) and International Programs

Overview

Teaching and learning at Seattle Public Schools are enriched by the diversity of our students and staff. We enroll students from more than 98 countries, and more than 129 languages are spoken in our schools. Our goal is to provide a range of services that assist English Language Learner students and their families to feel welcome at school and support students’ academic success.

Ensuring excellence in every classroom and that all students achieve is our primary strategic focus.  By focusing on program alignment, a new academic delivery model, professional development for instructional assistants, ELL and mainstream teachers and meaningful and collaborative community engagement we will ensure excellence in every classroom for all our ELL students.

Our services include:

• General ELL services in 64 schools
• 4 Elementary Bilingual Orientation Centers
• 1 Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center 
• 6 International Schools
• 4 Dual Immersion schools
• Support of Migrant and Refugee students via two grants

Goals

Our Current Goals focus on:

• Successfully design, implement, and expand  programs to ensure equity and access for all students
• District meets all requirements of state and federal compliance monitoring
• Establish, develop and sustain a talented, highly skilled, dedicated, and collaborative staff
• Ensure that all resources (money, time, and people) are allocated efficiently and effectively, driven by student needs and data
• Collaborate effectively with district staff, families, communities and higher education institutions

Current Initiatives

2010-2011 and ongoing areas of focus for our ELL team:

• Program Excellence
• Compliance
• Talent Management
• Resource Management
• Stakeholder Engagement 

Resources

ELL students receive academic support from ELL teachers and bilingual instructional assistants.  All instructional assistants speak one of our top ten languages and support students in their native language. The top eight languages our students speak are Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Amharic, Tigrinya and, Oromo.

World Family Center @ Seattle World School (formerly SBOC)
301 21st Ave. E.
Seattle, WA. 98112
Office Hours:  Monday through Friday  8:30am to 4:00pm
Bilingual Facilitators: Iris Viveros (Spanish)  206-252-2253
                            Kim Tran (Vietnamese) 206-252-2255
                            Yuan Bai (Mandarin)    206-252-2254
FAX Number:  206-252-2256