Nido's Middle School provides support for students who are still acquiring English-language skills. All MS students take Spanish as a Second Language or National Spanish language classes, but all other content courses, such as math, language arts, science, and social studies, are taught in English. For MS students with limited proficiency in English, assistance with language acquisition is in the form of push-in support in core content classes, as well as an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course that meets every other day.
The EAP class is designed to help ESL (English as a Second Language) students acquire the language and better understand the subject matter in their core classes. The EAP class focuses primarily on academic English; it integrates reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Students may also receive push-in help in their core classes, depending on their level of need. The ESL department aims to ensure that students are comfortable in the classroom setting, able to participate and work toward greater academic independence.
Our Language Acquisition Specialists work together with the content area teachers, providing each English-language learner with assistance and daily push-in support to help students achieve a more rapid academic, and consequently, social and emotional adjustment into the school environment. Previewing course content and additional review of material covered in class are essential components to learning academic language and succeeding in a second- or third-language educational setting.
Students entering Nido without proficiency in English are placed in the MS EAP program based on the following criteria: oral interview, standardized English proficiency tests (WIDA), writing samples, and records from previous schools. Exit from the EAP program is based on recommendations from core content and EAP teachers, standardized test scores, and writing samples.