Alamo Heights ISD presented an annual review of its bilingual and English-as-a-second-language programs on Oct. 16, reporting growth in the district’s emergent bilingual population and outlining steps to support language acquisition and academic progress.

The presentation, led by Dr. Blassie, said emergent bilingual students now number about 412 — “northwards of 8.8% of our students,” up from 5.9% four years earlier — and emphasized that the district offers dual-language Spanish–English programs from kindergarten through eighth grade and ESL services for students not in the Spanish programs.

"Emergent bilingual students are those students that are identified as developing a language or acquiring English," Dr. Blassie said, describing the two program models used by the district and the research basis for dual language instruction. She told trustees that Cambridge serves about 30% of the district’s emergent bilingual students and that one in three at Cambridge is a newcomer — a student attending their first U.S. school.

District presenters outlined staffing and professional development: 32 elementary teachers work in dual-language classrooms, elementary and high-school English teachers serving emergent bilinguals are ESL-certified, and summer and in-year professional learning days are funded through bilingual grant dollars. Dr. Blassie said three junior-school teachers were on bilingual waivers; two earned certification during the year and a third left midyear.

For assessment, the district cited TELPAS for language proficiency and the STAR assessment for academics. Dr. Blassie said, “when it comes to language progress targets at Alamo Heights, all of our schools met the targets set for 2037–38,” while noting differences between campuses driven by student composition and newcomer rates. She highlighted areas of academic strength — third- and fifth-grade gains in math and reading and strong U.S. history results — and identified priorities: fourth-grade reading and math at the elementary level, seventh-grade math in middle school and high-school English.

To address math and reading gaps, the district said it is piloting an explicit, systematic reading curriculum aligned with the science of reading (grant-funded), and is designing content-based linguistic instruction with coaches and coordinators to better integrate language supports into math instruction. Dr. Blassie described monitoring and reclassification procedures: students who exit language services are monitored for multiple years and the district reports reclassification and follow-up data as required.

Trustees asked about mobility and cohort tracking; presenters said district-wide mobility is about 21% and agreed to provide cohort analyses when possible. The presentation closed with an invitation to staff-grow programs: officials said they encourage teachers to pursue bilingual and ESL certification and the district supports in-house pathways for certification.

The board acknowledged the presentation and moved on to the rest of the agenda.