The Beaumont Independent School District services approximately 17,000 students of which 4,500 students are Hispanic (27%).
Currently, the Bilingual/ESL department provides second language acquisition to 2,505 students. Three hundred and forty-eight of those students participate in a Bilingual Program.
In the past, Fletcher Elementary was the only campus that housed the bilingual program. However, the growth of the Hispanic population in Beaumont prompted the opening of four additional bilingual campuses.
The additional campuses include Caldwood Elementary (West End Feeder), Fletcher Elementary (North End Feeder), and Lucas Pre-K Center.
The Bilingual Program is designed to enable Limited English Proficient students to become competent in the comprehension, speaking, reading, and composition of the English language through the development of literacy and academic skills in their primary language and English.
The English as a Second Language (ESL) Program is designed to enable Limited English Proficient students to become competent in the comprehension, speaking, reading, and composition of the English language through the integrated use of second language methods.
Although students in ESL make significant progress in the English language, numerous research studies of Bilingual education indicate that Bilingual students out-perform monolingual students in the long run.
Bilingual students tend to have higher-order cognitive thinking skills which are necessary to achieve academic success.
