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English as An Additional Language (EAL) Program

English as an Additional Language (EAL) Program

At SAS, we are deeply committed to fostering effective communication across multiple languages and cultures. Our English as an Additional Language (EAL) program is designed to help multilingual learners in the Elementary School develop English language skills to meet both their social and grade-level academic needs, preparing them for rigorous coursework conducted in English.

Enrollment Process

Our program recognizes that language acquisition is a gradual process, and students progress through these levels at their individual rates. Therefore, SAS provides varying levels of support to meet students’ needs. 

During the admissions process, prospective students who identify as multilingual learners are assessed to determine the appropriate level of English language support. This assessment indicates the level of EAL support needed at SAS, regardless of what previous EAL support may have looked like.
 

EAL Entry Requirements and Support Structure by Grade Level

Level Descriptions
 

NOTE: Level description names are updated for the 2024-25 school year:

  1. Foundational Support (formerly High Level of Support)
  2. Intermediate Support (formerly Moderate Level of Support)
  3. Transitioning Support (formerly Low Level of Support).

For January admittance, only EAL Intermediate and Transitioning Support is available for newly enrolling students in second grade. 

Third grade EAL Foundational Support is for currently enrolled students only. Only EAL Intermediate and Transitioning Support is available for newly enrolling students in third grade.

Only Transitioning Support is available for newly enrolling students in fourth and fifth grades.

Progress

As your child is learning an additional language, we want to recognize that it takes many years to acquire the language needed to participate in an academic setting. Language learning is dependent on a complex interaction between a number of individual student characteristics and factors, such as: age, first language literacy, language aptitude, previous school experience, personality, learning style, and motivation. 

Research shows that academic proficiency in a new language takes five to seven years to develop. Language learning is dynamic and occurs across four domains: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The timeline for moving through these stages is different for each student, but it is typical that a student may need approximately two years at each level of support.

At SAS, we employ a range of assessments and teacher observations to inform our decisions on how to effectively address student needs throughout the academic year and placement for each year. This encompasses frequent classroom assessments, along with a standardized English language proficiency test given every spring.