Charlottesville City Schools

Charlottesville City Schools offers a Language Instructional Education Program (LIEP) known as ELL (English Language Learners) to our students and families that qualify. 

• In the 2022-23 school year, we served over 650 multilingual learners from 41 countries who speak English as a second, third, or even fourth language. Our top languages are: Spanish, Swahili, Dari, Pashto, Arabic.

The ELL Curriculum and Instruction is aligned with the Virginia Standards of Learning and supports students’ language development while they are building their content knowledge.

ELL Services Offered
Services are designed to help students continue to develop English language proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as to assist them in adapting to a new culture. Language and culture taught in the program reinforce skills and concepts taught in all areas of the regular curriculum. Instruction is designed to meet the needs of students at various English proficiency levels, is offered in all schools, and includes all linguistic minority groups. Students are assigned to programs based on their level of first-language literacy, academic level, and level of English literacy.

Students’ needs in specific academic areas are the basis for service delivery decisions.

• In-Class Support: ELL teachers work with classroom teachers so students receive differentiated learning experiences in the regular classroom.
• Small Group Support: Students receive individual or small group instruction that is designed to meet their academic needs.
• Sheltered Content: Classes, taught by ELL and content specialists, are designed specifically for English learners.
• Monitoring: On a regular basis, ELL teachers monitor student progress in the regular classroom.

Determining a Student’s Proficiency Level
Students take English language tests when they enroll and in the spring of each school year. These tests are called the WIDA Screener or ACCESS tests. These language tests determine a student’s English Language Proficiency in the four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The results of these assessments determine a student’s English Language Proficiency level.