Princeton ISD wants to hear from families about how it teaches students who are learning English, and it has scheduled two simultaneous meetings to do it.
The district's weekly Express News newsletter, sent Tuesday, says officials will cover bilingual program models and seek parent feedback at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14.
The meeting will be offered at Harper Elementary School, 8080 County Road 398, and at Lacy Elementary School, 224 E. College St. Anyone interested may attend, the district said, including parents and guardians of students in bilingual and English as a second language classes.
The newsletter does not say whether the district is considering a change to its current approach.
How the program works now
According to the district's Bilingual & ESL page, Princeton ISD offers a Spanish-English bilingual program for prekindergarten through fifth grade using a transitional, early-exit model. Instruction is set at roughly 90% English and 10% Spanish, adjusted to each child's proficiency, with the goal of moving students to English-only instruction no sooner than two years and no later than five years after they enroll.
The bilingual program runs at Godwin, Harper, Lacy and Lowe elementary schools, and the district provides transportation to those campuses for bilingual students zoned to Smith and Mayfield elementaries. An ESL pull-out program, taught by certified ESL teachers, is offered on every campus from prekindergarten through 12th grade.
Fall break starts Friday
The Oct. 14 meetings fall on the day students come back from a five-day weekend. Students have no classes Friday, Oct. 9, through Tuesday, Oct. 13, while teachers have a work day, hold parent conferences and attend a training academy. Classes resume Wednesday, Oct. 14, with the start of the second nine-week grading period.
