English Language Learning Program
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English Language Acquisition Program for English Language Learners (ELL)
The Multilingual and Multicultural Center offers support for students whose home language is other than English. Language minority students who are assessed as needing support in English are directed to a school with age- and grade-appropriate level instruction to prepare them for succeess in mainstream classrooms. For grades K-5, those schools are East End Community School, Hall Elementary, Presumpscot Elementary, Reiche Elementary, and Riverton Elementary; for grades 6-8, the schools are King Middle, Lincoln Middle and Moore Middle; and for grades 9-12 the schools are Portland High, Deering High, and Casco Bay High. Meet our program staff, listed by school.
Portland Public Schools’ English Language Acquisition program provides instruction in English at the appropriate level of a learner’s proficiency by state-certified, ESL-endorsed teachers. Although the tasks may vary, they all contain the following characteristics: content-focused (teaching English through social studies, science, math, etc.) meaning-centered (as opposed to meaningless repetition), constructive (i.e., students learn by doing), integrated (practice using any combination of listening, speaking, reading, and writing), interactive (i.e., learning with others), and cognitively demanding (i.e., challenging enough to ensure growth in language complexity).
How are Portland’s English language learners doing in school? View A Longitudinal Study (in PowerPoint format).
Intensive English Language Program for Newcomers
An influx of unschooled non-English speaking adolescents in Portland Public Schools has prompted the creation of an Intensive English Language Program for newcomers. This specially-designed program of instruction aims to address the extreme language and literacy needs of high school-age newly-arrived students who lack schooling and/or literacy in their native language. As students acquire sufficient fluency and literacy skills, they will transition to regular ESL support services offered at the high schools. The maximum length of stay in this program is one year.
Program Staff in Portland Schools
East End Elementary
Rosa Barker, ESL Teacher
Amy Gookin, ESL Teacher
Lynn Medley, ESL Teacher
Brenda Murphy, ESL teacher
Kristen Reburn, ESL Teacher
Ina Demers, READ 180 Teacher
Bulina Ahmed, Language Facilitator
Esther Bark, Language Facilitator
Bol Bol Ruei Bol, Language Facilitator
Hana Tallan, Language Facilitator
Sophal Volent, Language Facilitator
Hall Elementary
Annette Mager, ESL Teacher
Rebecca Norling, ESL Teacher
Cynthia Taylor, ESL Teacher
Peng Kem, Language Facilitator
Veasna Kem, Language Facilitator
Presumpscot Elementary
Susan Hirshon, ESL Teacher
Reiche Elementary
Kathryn Blayne, ESL Teacher
Theresa Lee, ESL Teacher
Carolyn Nedza, ESL teacher
Candice Thomas, ESL Teacher
Aweis Abdalla, Language Facilitator
Roberto Keith, Language Facilitator
Muoi Nguyen, Language Facilitator
Mary Otto, Language Facilitator
Kunthiery Thim, Language Facilitator
Riverton Elementary
Lisa Crowley, ESL Teacher
Regina Di Bella, ESL Teacher
Jane Jamieson, ESL Teacher
Linda Stimpson, ESL Teacher
Simone Bodlovick, Language Facilitator Lubijca Forkapic, Language Facilitator
Ibrahim Hirsi, Language Facilitator
King Middle School
Cathy Bowden, ESL Teacher
Jennifer Macoy, ESL Teacher
Elizabeth Moran, ESL Teacher
Marcia Salem, ESL Teacher
Pat Niles, ESL Teacher
Amy LeVasseur, ESL Teacher
Bruno Yomoah, ESL Teacher Abdullahi Jama, Language Facilitator
Lincoln Middle School
Heidi Cameron, ESL Teacher
Jennifer Dorval, ESL Teacher
Joanne Galli, READ 180 Teacher
Sarah Martin, ESL Teacher Mary Kay Smith, ESL Teacher
Toh Hing, Language Facilitator
Edward Laboke, Language Facilitator
Mohamud Mohamed, Language Facilitator
Moore Middle School
Clara Jean Howard, ESL Teacher
Casco Bay High
Alison Perkins, ESL Teacher
Deering High
Christine Acker, ESL Teacher
Suzanne Dodson, ESL Teacher
Maureen Fox, ESL Teacher
Sheri Oliva, ESL Teacher Ahmed Hassan, Language Facilitator
Jaleh Hojati, Language Facilitator
Portland High
Tambria Alexander, ESL Teacher
Stephen Dyro, ESL Teacher
Mark Ford, Read 180 Teacher
Zarmina Hanifi, ESL Teacher
Deborah Hutson, ESL Teacher
Timothy Lippert, ESL Teacher
Christina Mitchell, ESL Teacher
Anne Murray, ESL Teacher
Marjorie Sampson, ESL Teacher
Julie Wise, ESL Teacher
Ismail Noor Ali, Language Facilitator
Dung Kim Tran, Language Facilitator