History of the District and Pacheco School
English Language Learner (ELL) Program

Prior to 1994-95, LEP students were scattered across 12 elementary sites with no more than 51 students at one school. LEP students were only given services through an English Language Development (ELD) “pullout” program. Instruction was delivered by monolingual aides supervised by an itinerant ELD teacher. No instruction was given in the primary language.

Recognizing the need to “cluster” Spanish-speaking students at certain sites in order to concentrate personnel and services, Pacheco became a recipient site in 1994-95 and the school initiated “Newcomer” classes for Kindergarten students. Also in that year, Pacheco began investigating the best way to serve large numbers of LEP students. Research showed that two-way or dual-immersion programs offer the greatest benefits to both LEP and English-speaking students in terms of language acquisition, academic achievement in all subject areas, preparation for secondary school, self-esteem, and successful adjustment to change in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural society.

In 1995-96, the Newcomers Program expanded to the first grade and included teaching language arts in Spanish to LEP students. The research and planning stage for the dual immersion program was completed. That stage included community outreach and input, and visits to two-way schools in San Jose, CA, Windsor, CA, Fremont, CA, and Cambridge, MA.

The Pacheco Dual-Immersion Program was implemented in 1996-97 with three Kindergarten classes with a total of 96 students, half of whom were LEP students. Newcomers classes were expanded to grade 2. The following six years, the dual immersion program expanded into the first through sixth grades. As the new LEP programs have been added, the LEP population at the school has grown considerably. The program has also proved very successful and popular with both Spanish- and English-speaking parents. Each year, demand by English speaking parents has required a waiting list and/or a lottery to determine entrance into the program.