A Little History Directions to Apollo ELL Full Day Kindergarten Head Start Lunch Menus MERLIN (Gifted) Mochas with Marla Early Childhood Education SAGE (HighlyCapable) School Hours Special Education Students&Staff Test Scores TAG Team

ELL Services The English Language Learners program (ELL) in Issaquah School District was created in 1978 in accordance with the state legislative directive to provide instruction to students with limited English proficiency. Currently Issaquah serves more than one hundred and seventy students in its ELL program. These students represent more than twenty different cultures and language groups, the most common being Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Students in all grades, Kindergarten through twelve, are eligible for ELL services. We provide support in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students' abilities vary. Some newcomers arrive with little or no knowledge of English. Others arrive able to speak and understand English but need assistance with reading and writing. Students arriving in Issaquah in the early grades often graduate from the ELL program in a year or two. Older students sometimes remain in the program three years, but rarely longer. Students remain in the ELL program until they reach the 35th percentile in reading and language as measured by a standardized test - or until they have proved that they are academically qualified to take mainstream classes. The instructional priority is to develop listening and speaking proficiency first, and then to develop proficiency in reading and writing. Literature and Social Studies are essential elements of the ELL curriculum for intermediate and advanced students. Elementary students receive small group instruction outside of class. Educational Assistants who work under the supervision of the ELL Coordinator and the classroom teacher deliver instruction. Students receive between one and five hours of ELL per week, depending on need. Newcomer students receive priority. Beginner classes focus on essential survival vocabulary, phrases and conversation. Reading and writing are introduced soon after the development of basic oral skills.  For further information, contact Bill Mokin, Program Coordinator, 425-837-7092.