English Develoment programs are offered to students who qualify for English language support services and speak a language other than English or Spanish.  These services are currently offered at Sarah Raymond Early Learning Center, Oakland Elementary, Stevenson Elementary, Bloomington Junior High School, and Bloomington High School. Multilingual learners in these programs will continue to develop their academic English in order to meet grade level academic standards.  

One-Way Dual Language:

Multilingual learners whose first language is Spanish are enrolled in the bilingual program.  This program is offered at Sarah Raymond Early Learning Center, Bent Elementary School and Bloomington Junior High School.  Students are taught in both English and Spanish.  English is systematically introduced into the curriculum.  The ratio of Spanish to English begins at preK with 95% Spanish and 5% English.  Percentages gradually shift yearly to include more English. The goal of this program is for students to become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural. 

Transitional Bilingual Program:

Multilingual learners whose first language is Spanish enroll in a transitional bilingual program at Bloomington High School.  Through this program, the native language (Spanish) is used to help students transfer skills from the native language into English.  Students take a Spanish Language Arts course and/or a bilingual resource course where they can learn academic content in the native language.  An English as a Second language course is also a component of this program and counts as the students’ required English credits for graduation.