Hillsborough trains ESOL teachers to help English learners

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County Public Schools educators are training ahead of the new school year to support more than 23,000 English language learners across the district, including students who may be adjusting to a new country, a new school, and a new language.

The district serves English language learners from a wide range of backgrounds. Jessica de la Prida, multilingual supervisor for Hillsborough County Public Schools, says the top languages students speak are Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, and Creole.

“Constantly there is a need to ensure that we train, that we monitor and that we support,” De la Prida said.

The training covers educators’ roles and responsibilities, new standards for evaluating students and ways to provide testing support.

The district also has an ESOL resource teacher at every school to help students learning English and support other teachers.

“We’re building the capacity in them to build teams at their schools, and that this is not a job for one person,” said De la Prida.

For Annabell Horta, an ESOL Resource Teacher in Hillsborough County, the work is personal.

Horta, who is of Cuban descent, said English was not her first language. “I learned English really fast through my teachers and my classmates,” Horta explained.

Horta said that the teachers who helped her adjust inspired her to become an educator. “I wanted to be the teacher that I had when I was younger and be the teacher that I know that my students could confide in and trust in and know that they’re always going to have someone that supports them,” she said.

Now three years into her role, Horta is among the educators taking part in district training before students return to class.

And she is excited about what the new school year will look like. “Every school year I think of it as a way to better myself so that I can better serve my students and my school,” said Horta.

She says supporting English language learners also means understanding the challenges students may face beyond academics. “They come to this country, they might not be so sure yet of wanting to learn English and caring about doing well in this brand new school, in this brand new country, brand new language,” she explained.

She said another goal is continuing to communicate with families and helping them get involved. “Just finding ways to continue communicating with them and getting them involved is definitely a goal I have.”

The district said its support does not end when a student passes the English language learner assessment. Educators continue monitoring the student’s academic progress for another two years.