You have just moved to a new country. You’re about to start high school. Sounds hard enough, right? That’s not all though—you’re not fluent in English. Would you even know where to start?

Fortunately for you, NPHS strives to make sure every student has the tools they need to succeed in high school, even if that means helping you strengthen your grasp on the English language.

The Multilingual Learners (ML) program (formerly known, and sometimes still referred to as English as a Second Language) which at this high school is taught by Ms. Avila, is there so that students who are still learning English can still get through high school while getting the support they need. 

Freshman Edna Diaz, who came to New Providence School District last year, started in the Multilingual Learners program in middle school. Now, she is in her second year. 

She said: “My English is much better now this year than last year.”

She’s excelled in the program, and now she finds herself capable of helping other MLs, too.

She said: “I have two new students that I have Health with, and I translate for them because they don’t understand.”

Diaz’s experience in the Multilingual Learners program has truly helped her grow in her English skills. 

ESL/ML teacher Ms. Avila herself is a bilingual Spanish and English speaker. In addition, she was an ML student. 

She said: “I understood what it was like for them and realized this was my purpose,” referring to when she became an ML teacher. 

Since then, she has been teaching Multilingual Learners for over 20 years. She came to NPSD in the 2020-2021 school year.

Some of her goals for her students “are to help them with the cultural, social, and emotional transitions of living in a new environment and culture and all that comes with it, to help them learn how to communicate in English successfully in all areas of living in a new culture, to help them succeed academically within their new culture and language, and to provide them with equal opportunities as other students in New Providence.”

Since the ML program gets people from countries like India, Ukraine, Guatemala, Colombia, and Costa Rica, there is no one language that they all have in common. Because of  this, Avila said, kindness, respect, and understanding are most important in their classroom.

She said these traits are like “universal languages,” and that “you don’t need to speak another language to show respect, kindness, and understanding.”

She also said: “I try very hard to establish a positive classroom environment where my students feel safe and cared for.”

In addition, Avila does research on each student’s cultures to make them feel understood and welcomed. 

The District Head of World Languages in this school district is Mr. Santoro, who teaches Italian at the high school.

He said he sometimes pops in on ML classes “to get an idea of what the students are learning and to see if the teachers need any support.”

While Avila writes the ML’s curriculum, Santoro reviews it in the summer, approves it, and sends up the ladder so it can be used.

When he’s reviewing the curriculum in the summer, he has two sets of goals.

He said: “The first is to make sure it’s compliant with the state. We have certain government requirements that we have to meet for schools.”

His goal for the students is similar to Ms. Avila’s.

Santoro wants “to make sure that the curriculum provides opportunities for students to develop English speaking skills, reading skills, writing skills, and listening skills in ways that are useful to their real lives.”

In general, ESL/ML isn’t a new program.

“When I was in school, many years ago, there were ESL programs. The way ESL looked has changed over the decades. The scope of it has changed,” said Santoro. “For example, years and years ago, sometimes these students would just be isolated from other students and they would never interact with any of the other students whereas today, they’re still in classes with their peers so they’re getting natural exposure to spoken English.”

Avila has also implemented changes in NPHS’s ML program since she arrived. 

“This school year our ESL classes look very different from previous years. In the past, all levels of ESL, all grades, and all languages were in one period of ESL and one tutorial period,” Avila said. “Since I was hired, I knew this needed to change and advised the district to provide level specific classes to better help the specific needs of each ML. This year, for the first time in NPHS and NPMS, we have three ESL periods.”

Even though there is still room for improvement in this program, such as giving the students and their teacher their own set classroom, Avila has taken them on and made the ML program the successful course that changes the lives of students like Diaz.