Within the School District of the Chathams, our English as a Second Language (ESL) program is designed to meet the needs of students whose primary language is not English and whose proficiency in English is limited. The goal of the program is to help students develop both linguistic and academic skills, as well as to help orient them to American culture while maintaining pride in their linguistic and cultural heritages. The district offers ESL to students K through 12 who are developing their proficiency in the English language.

Student eligibility is determined through the administration of the WIDA Screener. WIDA is a standardized, English language proficiency assessment given to incoming students in grades K–12 to assess their level of proficiency. The individual progress of English Language Learners (ELLs) is carefully monitored through the administration of the annual ACCESS for ELLS 2.0 standardized test. For eligible students, instruction is provided in small group settings by an ESL certified teacher.