Goals of the ESL Program

The goal of the Huntsville City Schools (HCS) English as a Second Language (ESL) program is to provide equitable opportunities to students who have a primary or home language other than English, and who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) or Non-English Speakers (NES). The primary focus is to provide an English-rich environment to encourage English proficiency as quickly as possible.

 HCS strives to create a learning environment that encourages students’ pride in their cultural heritage, and provides the cognitive and affective support to help them become contributing members of our society.

 This program, beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school, will provide each English language learner (ELL or EL) the opportunity to be successful in academic areas and to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing proficiency in order to be successful in all classes.

 In short, the educational goals of the ESL program are:

1.   Equal access to understandable instruction in all academic areas.

2.   Meaningful participation in all district programs.

3.   Increased English proficiency.

4.   Mastery of subject matter content.