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Growing Strong Learners: Galt Joint Union Elementary School District


Galt Joint Union Elementary School District is using their funding to provide more opportunities for English Learners and their families. Parent participation is key to student success and Galt has instituted several programs to address family engagement. All teachers and PreK parents have been trained in a program called Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT).  These teams work together to analyze student needs and create programs that address those needs.  In addition, Galt built a Bright Future Learner Center on the Fairsite Preschool campus, which provides enrichment activities for students and families after school hours.  In order to build educator capacity, Galt is exploring Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs. The hope is to roll DLI out at the PreK level in the 2020-2021 school year.

Their goals include:

  • Training all teachers and PreK parents  in a program called Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT). 
  • Facilitating a Bright Future Learner Center on an off-site campus, providing enrichment activities for students
    and families after school hours. 
  • Setting the stage for Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs in the hopes to roll it out at the PreK level in the next school year.

Snapshot of years 2-3:The PreK team will explore Dual Language Immersion (DLI)  programs and train teachers in best-practices and evidence-based curriculum. They plan to open their first Pre-K DLI classroom in the Fall of 2021.

Galt
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Initiative

Building Brilliant Futures for English Learners

Education

Initiative

The James B. McClatchy Foundation has awarded grants to school districts in the Central Valley since 2009 with the primary purpose of advancing the academic achievement of the Valley’s English Learners.  In 2017, JBMF (then the Central Valley Foundation) formed the English Learner Advisory Group in order to identify potential high impact grantmaking opportunities for English Learners in the Central Valley. One such opportunity was improving the quality of and increasing access to prekindergarten programs. As a result, the “Growing Strong Learners” initiative launched in 2018.   

The approach of the Growing Strong Learners initiative is asset-based, and prioritizes home language and culture, as well as English acquisition.  In this vein, JBMF supports school systems, programs, and partners as they leverage the strengths of the Valley’s diverse learners and their families. The initiative’s goal is that all Dual Language Learners in the Central Valley enter Kindergarten at the same level or beyond that of their native English-speaking peers and are supported by lasting structures that ensure they thrive throughout their educational journeys.

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