Supervisor of English as a Second Language

Malissa Farrish
mfarrish@wboe.net
(609) 835-8940  ext. 6510

Willingboro Public Schools uses a digital platform called OnCourse to house all of our curriculum guides by content area and grade level. This setup allows for instructional transparency, instantaneous curricular revisions, and vertical and horizontal mapping in all content areas. All parents and students have access to view our curricula through a Public Portal. Please use the link below to access these guides:

OnCourse Curriculum Portal

• 10 Ways to Support ELLs in the School Library

• Literacy Strategies for Librarians in Diverse Communities

• Summer Reading: English Language Learners at the Library

• Filling in the Holes

• Resources for Librarians: Serving ELLs and Their Families

The intent of the Willingboro Public School District’s English Learners (ELs) Program is to ensure that students receive a well-developed program that includes the integral components of language arts (e.g., listening, writing, grammar, spelling, composition) as well as the language of the content areas (e.g. mathematics, science and social studies).

It is our obligation, as educators, to respond to the affective needs of students as well as to their cognitive needs. Students, in our program, feel motivated to learn and they are given opportunities to express their own meaning in a collaborative environment. Cultural understanding is promoted in various ways so that students are prepared to live more harmoniously in our community. We therefore hope to instill in our English language learners (ELLs) a positive, realistic understanding of their individual worth, abilities and potentials. This will be done as English language learners progress through grades and become useful, productive and broadminded individuals in our society.

At enrollment, the district determines all students’ native language and actively maintains a census of all enrolled students. Initiated by the home-language survey, there is a screening process to determine which students must be tested to determine English language proficiency (ELP). A certified teacher screens all students whose native language is other than English. Once it is determined that an English Language Proficiency (ELP) test is necessary, the district administers the exam to assess the level of reading in English. Previous academic performance of students is reviewed as well, including performance on standardized tests in English (if applicable). If eligible, the parent/guardian is notified within 30 days.

Read more about the NewJersey Office of Bilingual/ESL Education.

In Grades K-12, all students identified as ELLs receive one period of instruction every day by a certified ESL teacher. In their other classes, such as Science and Math, all teachers of the ELLs have received training on strategies to make the subject-area content rigorous, culturally relevant, and comprehensible for the ELLs.

All of our ESL classes integrate a variety of materials such as media, technology, role-playing, and meaningful literature, as well as a range of teaching methods. All of these comprehensive curriculum guides meet the requirements of the WIDA (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment) Learning Standards for Language Development, along with the NJDOE Career Ready Practice standards for 21st Century Life and Careers.