The ELP department is proud to be serving the community of Baldwin Park under the direction of Director Madalena Arellano for the past 4 years. Our department has a Program Specialist, Rita Flores and two Clerks, Angelica Calderon and Sara Barrera. We are all here to serve you with a smile, to respond to your questions and concerns in a timely manner and to make certain you receive the most current information possible.
What are English Learner Programs?
As parents register their children they are asked to complete a survey on languages spoken in the home. If a student speaks another language they are given a California English Language Development Test (CELDT). This test is required by the California Department of Education. If a student does not pass the test they are then considered English learners and given support by us to assist them with the development of the English language. Research shows it takes about 5-6 years for students to attain proficiency in English.
We have been on the move to assist our community members with ensuring Baldwin Park students are receiving exceptional programs, are given the tools needed to learn effectively and are assigned to highly qualified teachers. Our current district student body is approximately 16,000 students with approximately 5,800 English learners. Yearly we have about 12% of our ELs reclassifying, which means they now qualify as Fluent English Proficient students and have reached the goal of attaining a second language. Our district percentage is higher than the county and state average which makes us so very proud of our students and staff!
We are very excited to share with you that we also offer a Dual Language Program. Our DL program is set up so that English Learner and English only students enter kindergarten and are offered programs in Spanish and English. The percent in Spanish in kindergarten is 80% and English is 20%. As the students move up in the grade levels each year they are offered a higher percentage of English. By the time the student reaches 5th grade they are being taught 50% Spanish and 50% English. The DL program is offered Pre-K through grade 12. We currently have five elementary schools, one junior high school, one middle school and one high school offering the program.
Parents as our Partners
As we work with students we also work with their parents and they become our partners. Baldwin Park Unified has a dynamic District English Learner Advisory Committee. This committee is a made up of one parent representative from each school site. These parents meet monthly to support us in overseeing our EL programs. Our current Board consists of President Xochitl Escalante, Vice President Martha Benitez, Secretary Lidia Guerrero, Treasurer Rosario Salgado and Sergeant of Arms Sara Alvarez.
As you can see, we are here and making a difference for Baldwin Park students. We hope you take advantage of our site and take time to reference the links we have provided. Please refer to our Student Achievement departments for programs being used and other pertinent information.
Thank you for visiting our site.
DELAC End of the Year Recognition Ceremony
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