English language learners jump 36% at Revere public schools says director

By Barbara Taormina

Jennifer LaBollita and Chelsey Bencks, the director and assistant director of the school district’s Multilingual Learners & World Language Department, were at this week’s School Committee meeting with an update on their work. The one piece of information they provided that stands out most was the increase in the number of students in Revere who are learning English. In 2020, 23 percent of Revere students were English language learners. Today, 36 percent of Revere students, or 2,615 kids, are learning English in Revere schools.

“We have students from 50 different countries speaking 45 different languages,” said LaBollita. “We are one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse cities in the state which is an incredible gift,” she said, adding that 70 of Revere students are bilingual. “We’re here to celebrate and cherish that.”

In addition to English language learners, LaBollita and Bencks also described the district’s world language program. As it has in the past, the district offers classes in Spanish, French and Italian. The district now offers Arabic 1 and will be adding Arabic 2. Also, Japanese is a popular class at City Lab.

LaBollita and Bencks displayed a chart that showed 44 percent of Revere English language learners are making progress compared to the state statistic, which has 37 percent of English language learners progressing. However, Bencks said the number is deceiving because it is based on one assessment test. A second chart displayed showed close to 48 percent of Revere’s English learners achieving academic growth.

Because the district is so far out ahead with multilingual education, Revere is helping craft curriculum and professional development for teachers.

LaBollita did make the request for two additional elementary language coaches to facilitate classroom/teacher level support as well as possible additional ESL teachers depending on continued enrollment.