The English Language Learner (ELL) Program in the Delavan-Darien School District serves approximately 640 students. That is currently about 24 percent of the total student population. The majority of our ELL students speak Spanish as their first language.

The goal of the program is the acquisition of English through a Structured English Immersion model. This means we support listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English in the content areas for students who have been identified as English Language Learners (ELLs). Usually this support is given within the general classroom setting.

The ELL staff collaborates with the classroom teacher to meet the individual needs of each ELL student. Multiple methods of teaching are used to differentiate linguistic and academic instruction. ELL teachers may co-teach with the classroom teacher, they may pre-teach vocabulary in a small group setting, they might offer tutorial assistance during a study hall, they will administer assessments (tests) with modifications, they may teach specific language acquisition skills to a group, as well as serve as a liaison between the school and parents ELL staff members. ELL teachers also administer the ACCESS test each year, which tests each ELL student’s level of acquisition of the English language.

The ELL department strives to provide English Language Learners with a successful and rewarding educational experience as they learn the fundamentals of and become fluent in the English language.