Multilingual Families Newsletter

On October 6, 2021, the Multilingual Programs Department was proud to feature students, parents, and campus/district staff in a video welcoming Fort Bend ISD’s new Superintendent, Dr. Christie Whitbeck. The video featured some of the 120+ languages and dialects that FBISD families bring to the county, as well as some of the World Language courses offered in the district. “I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve the students of Fort Bend ISD,” Whitbeck said in an interview with the FBISD Communications Department. “With parents, teachers, staff and community partners working together on behalf of our children, there is no limit to what our students can achieve.”

Our Pre-K and Kindergarten dual language classes are highly engaged, learning about Science and Language at the same time. Students have multiple opportunities for hands-on activities, to talk about the content, and collaborate with their peers. Way to go dual language classes!

Nuestras clases de lenguaje dual de Pre-K y Kínder están muy involucradas en el aprendizaje de Ciencias y el lenguaje al mismo tiempo. Los estudiantes tienen múltiples oportunidades para actividades prácticas, hablar sobre el contenido y colaborar con sus compañeros. ¡Bien hecho clases duales!

Parents at Goodman Elementary collaborated by building a pumpkin patch to help them do science, math, and language arts activity with our Pre-k - 2nd grade students. Students are loving it. They can count pumpkins in English and Spanish, touch them, make predictions about what it is inside, write math problems using pumpkins, learn about texture and even write silly poems about pumpkins. It has been a good start to build relationships with parents.

The TEA English Learner Support Division is excited to announce the release of their September Parents and Families Newsletter. They are committed to continuously improving and letting you know about their parent and family resources on txel.org.

In September, the district’s English Learner Specialists received the book, Growing Language & Literacy, written by Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld. Throughout the year, the EL Specialists will engage in a book study to align classroom practices with best practices for English learners, also known as emergent bilingual students, with varying levels of English proficiency. Currently, every elementary school in FBISD has an EL Specialist, whose main role is to support classroom teachers by providing instructional coaching that focuses on second language acquisition. There are also three secondary EL Specialists at Dulles High School, Baines Middle School, and Christa McAuliffe Middle School.

The Multilingual Programs Department continued its family and community engagement by presenting the second session of a series called Conversations with Parents of English Learners. Throughout the year, this online series will feature various topics of relevance for English learners (emergent bilingual students). The October session featured information about “Social Emotional Learning for English Learners”, presented by the district’s Newcomer Specialist, Caroline LeBlanc and one of the Elementary ESL Program Coordinators, Lili Dibai. Over 40 parents attended the sessions, presented in English and Spanish. Multilingual Programs plans to make the recordings available via YouTube on the Department’s website soon, where closed captioning for the video can be accessed in various languages.

Our recent Parent Outreach meeting, Accommodations and Advocacy – How to Help your Child Learn English, is now available on our YouTube channel for parents to view using closed captions in many languages. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/2K5yfORhT8U

Here are some simple directions for using the CC feature:

1. While the video is playing, click on the cogwheel.

2. Click on auto-translate.

3. Click on desired language and subtitles will appear.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to celebrate America's rich Hispanic history and culture while recognizing the many contributions of Hispanic Americans and their many achievements. September 15 - October 15)

World Language students at Christa McAuliffe MS and Hightower HS celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month! Spanish teachers Zayda Rodriguez (CMMS) and Carolina Barrios (HHS) worked with students on a variety of acts to represent their various cultures. Teachers from around the district came to support the students when they presented on October 13, 2021.

Townewest Elementary celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month during the morning announcements, a parade, a potluck for the teachers, and even POP up home visits!

Director:

Tinou (Angela) Tran, Ed.D. Angela.Tran@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-0480

Assistant Director:

Marianella Moore, Ed.D. Marianella.Moore@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-0806

Multilingual Compliance Officer:

Youngmee Hsu Youngmee.Hsu@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-1138

Senior Administrative Associate Teaching and Learning:

Sandra Ontiveros Sandra.Ontiveros@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-1137

Associate Administrative Teaching and Learning

Chambers, Chrissy Chrissy.Chambers@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-1268

World Languages Coordinator:

Melissa Vargas Melissa.Vargas@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-1237

Bilingual Program Coordinator:

José Barrera Jose.Barrera@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-1553

Bilingual Program Specialist:

Carolina Álvarez Carolina.Alvarez@fortbendisd.com

281-634-8448

Elementary ESL Coordinator:

Lili Dibai Lili.Dibai@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-7990

Elementary ESL Coordinator:

Lee Glaesemann Lee.Glaesemann@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-5803

Secondary ESL Coordinator:

Joël Johnson Joel.Johnson@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-1365

Newcomer Specialist

Caroline LeBlanc Caroline.LeBlanc@fortbendisd.com

(281) 634-48707

Language Testing Center:

1555 Independence Boulevard,

Missouri City, Texas 77489

(North-West corner of Progressive High School)

281-634-8465