The number of students in the district acquiring English has increased over 350% during the past five school years, according to a presentation given by Alexis King, PISD’s director of language programs, during a Nov. 13 board meeting. The district has 3,639 students who are learning English, King said.
“With our rapid growth, we have also been experiencing rapid diversification,” she said.
The context
Emergent bilingual, or EB, refers to students who are acquiring the English language, King said. The number of students classified as EB decreases through grade levels as students learn the language, she said.
The details
The number of emergent bilingual students has increased by 356% from 798 enrolled in the 2019-20 school year to almost 3,700 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to King’s presentation.Over 70 languages are represented in PISD, King said. The top 10 languages spoken by students or their family members include:
- Telugu
- Tamil
- Spanish
- Hindi
- Urdu
- Korean
- Chinese
- Arabic
- Gujarati
- Portuguese
The district has 353 students enrolled in its dual language two-way program, King said. Students spend 50% of their day learning in Spanish and the other half learning in English, she said.
The two-way dual language program ends in fifth grade, but students can continue their Spanish education through courses at Rogers Middle School before going on to their zoned high schools that all offer advanced Spanish classes, she said.
“It’s exciting to watch some of our youngest learners participating in both languages,” King said.
