Dear Educators,
In order to truly become an Equity district, we know we must adjust our thinking and structures to best support our students. A big part of this work is standing by our collective commitment to prioritize culturally and linguistically responsive education in DPS.
With that in mind, we are excited to announce that the ELA Department will become the
Multilingual Education Department (MLE). As part of this transition, World Languages will join the MLE Department, and all team members will retain their current position. Multilingual Education will continue to help DPS build on the work that has already been established as we strive toward the goal of every student graduating bilingual and biliterate. And, in alignment with the
Black Excellence Resolution, this move will allow us to increase access to language instruction for our Black and Indigenous students, who are underrepresented in rigorous courses and in our Seal of the Biliteracy graduates.
The new Multilingual Education Department will focus on the asset of being a multilingual and linguistically diverse student, instead of focusing solely on acquiring English. While the team will continue to strive to ensure that our students become English proficient, we will enthusiastically celebrate students’ native languages and cultures. We recognize the unique stories and voices of our multilingual students and honor them by calling them Multilingual Learners (MLLs), and we believe that developing home language skills help students stay connected with their family, culture and community.
One important way we can all support our students in further developing their native language proficiency both at school and at home is through earning the
Seal of Biliteracy. The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given by DPS in recognition of students who have attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. The Seal appears on the transcript and diploma of the graduating senior and is a statement of accomplishment for future employers and for college admissions.
The application for juniors and seniors to apply for the 2020-21 DPS Seal of Biliteracy is now open. Please help make sure your school has a point of contact to ensure your students take advantage of this opportunity. See the School Checklist
here for more details and additional resources.
Thank you for all you do to support our students and to celebrate their incredible diversity.
Many thanks,
Tamara and Mike