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ESOL Department
Department Director: Judith Artman, ESOL RT
Department Phone: 301-929-2088
Welcome to the ESOL (English For Speakers of Other Languages) department web page! Come meet our ESOL teachers and become familiarized with our program, course offerings, and extra curricular activities.
News and Events
International Night
The major goals of the ESOL program are:
- Teaching students enough english to function successfully in the regular classroom
- Providing intensive basic skills instruction to those who have had little or no previous schooling
- Counseling those who are adjusting to a new school and community environment
- Minimizing linguistic and cultural barriers to enable parents to participate in their children's education
About Our Staff
The ESOL department is staffed by linguistically and culturally diverse teachers who cooperate as a team and work as a professional learning community. We provide the following programs to serve our community and students: a multilingual Back-To-School Night program; individual and group bilingual counseling for academic, social, and personal issues; college preparation and career counseling; lunch tutoring; and parent services provided by our parent outreach coordinator. ESOL teachers have also sponsored the Vietnamese Club, the International Club, and Wheaton Works. Ms. Bea Erdelyi is a Fulbright Exchange Teacher from Hungary. Mr. Jay Dater, a Wheaton ESOL teacher, has gone to teach Ms. Erdelyi's classes in Hungary.
Members of our department coordinated and directed a school-wide International Night program the past five years which promoted appreciation of Wheaton's cultural diversity. Each semester ESOL awards are bestowed in recognition of outstanding student achievement. A variety of awards are given for academic achievement, leadership, improvement, good conduct, perfect attendance, good citizenship, and REACH (responsibility, enthusiasm, achievement, cooperation, harmony). Montgomery County ESOL awards are celebrated in May and given to outstanding ESOL students elected by each school.