RBERN West Newsletter

Welcome back, WNY educators! We hope you are returning to school refreshed and prepared for an unprecedented start to the 2020-2021 school year. We stand ready to support you as we navigate the challenges this new school year brings. In this first edition of our newsletter, we want to provide you with some updated, essential information for you to reference as we begin this journey together.

Denise Góñez-Santos

Executive Director, RBERN West

· Revised ELL Identification and Continued Eligibility of ENL services parent notification letters

· WNYRIC Update to NYSITELL Answer Sheets (2020 version)

100 school districts and charter schools (75 with ELLs)

4 BOCES regions (Erie 1, Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus, Cattaraugus-Allegany, Orleans-Niagara)

9,281 ELLs in WNY

121 Languages spoken, Top 5 are:

• Spanish (36.2%)
• Arabic (17.1%)
• Karen (5.3%)
• Somali (4.8%)
• Burmese (4.7%)

Denise Góñez-Santos, Executive Director

dgonez-santos@e1b.org | (716) 821-7546

Michael Duffy, Resource Specialist

mjduffy@e1b.org | (716) 821-7510

Melissa Duquette, Resource Specialist

mduquette@e1b.org | (716) 821-7515

Claribel González, Resource Specialist

cgonzalez@e1b.org | (716) 821-7570

Dawn Novak, Office Manager

dnovak@e1b.org | (716) 821-7531

Tamara Alsace, Ph.D., School Improvement Resource Specialist

Ruth Casillas, School Improvement Resource Specialist

José Rivera, Ph.D., School Improvement Resource Specialist

The Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network West is part of a statewide system of support, funded by the NYSED Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages (OBE-WL).

Mission: Collaborate with educators, parents, and community members to promote academic excellence and ensure high school graduation for all multilingual learners.

Vision: A community that provides access to an excellent and equitable education for multilingual learners that prepares them to be prosperous participants of a free and democratic society.

Email: dnovak@e1b.org
Website: www.rbernwest.e1b.org
Location: 355 Harlem Road, Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: (716)821-7531
Twitter: @RBERNWest