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Boltz’s Newcomer Program, one of only two in the Poudre School District, is designed for students in the early stages of learning English as an additional language. Our program is flexible and adapts to individual student's needs when they arrive. Our Newcomer Director, Mrs. Bejarano Gonzalez, works closely with ELD teacher Mrs. Roller and the child’s parents.
There are many parts of the Newcomer Program that are tailored to specific needs of the family and child while they are making the exciting, yet challenging transition to a new culture, community, and school. The Newcomer Program helps to bridge the educational and social-emotional experience of students and to support newcomer students and families during, at a minimum, their first year of schooling in the United States. The goals of our program are to help students acquire beginning English skills, provide instruction in core content area, guide students’ acculturation to the school system in the United States, and develop or strengthen the student’s native language literacy skills.
The program assists in transportation covering the distance over a mile and a half from school. A supportive schedule is created that works best for the child and reiterates the importance of literacy and proficiency in multiple languages (native language and English language). The Boltz community recognizes that our newcomer students are not only developing their skills in English, but also are becoming bilingual and biliterate with increased opportunities for multilingual learners.
Most importantly, the newcomer student will have many supports in place to help them thrive academically as well as socially and emotionally. The student will be placed with other newcomer students who understand the strengths, challenges, and emotions that come with moving to a new country.
Our teachers understand that gaining a better understanding of a culture will help a person learn a language more effectively. Our newcomer core classes not only emphasize language development and grade level encore classes, but also idiosyncratic cultural aspects of life in the U.S. Students also learn how to navigate their daily schedules, lunch times, and where to find help.
We have an open, collaborative, flexible, supportive environment where we acknowledge the students’ first language and culture as a strength. Newcomer students start in core classes such as Newcomer English Language Arts, Science/Social Studies, and Math classes. They will attend mainstream English-speaking classes during Electives and Advisory. All multilingual language students will demonstrate English proficiency on the annual English language proficiency assessment, called ACCESS test. This assessment, among other factors will help determine the placement that is best for the multilingual student to thrive in the Boltz community.
Entering a Boltz mainstream classroom is a fluid process for newcomer students, and they will have the support of ELD teachers in class in addition to the classroom teacher. Boltz teachers routinely reach out to ELD teachers on the progress of our newcomer students. Their goal is to help each student succeed and are willing to adapt classroom material and resources to achieve this.
Students may enter the dual language program as appropriate, determined by a team of parents, teachers and the student. Dual language instruction can be modified depending on the student’s motivation, academic levels, and language immersion experience.
Second year newcomer students attend newcomer English and transition to grade level courses as their English abilities grow.