Welcome to our English Language Learners Program!
English Language Learners: Affton School District is a diverse community that is home to families from over 25 different countries. Mesnier Primary School has around 100 students participating in the English language program and Gotsch Intermediate has around 60 students.
Program Placement: Students English proficiency is tested when they enter and exit our program. The W-APT is an assessment tool used to identify ELLs and assists in appropriate language instruction and placement. Every student enrolled in the program also participates in an annual English language proficiency test called the ACCESS for ELLs to assess student progress.
Language Instruction: Our program focuses around four areas of language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Lessons and activities are designed to teach and practice skills in these four areas. In Affton, we use a content-based model of instruction. A content-based approach is instruction provided in English that assists in developing language skills while also preparing students to study grade-level material in English.
There are five language proficiency levels in Affton that are modeled after the National TESOL Proficiency Standards. These levels allow us to track student progress across grade levels within the same scale.