On May 14, students from across CUHSD were celebrated for being reclassified to Fluent-English-Proficient at the annual Reclassification (RFEP) ceremony hosted at Westmont High School.
Reclassification means students are able to master state standards for academic achievement without the support of English Language Development (ELD) courses. In order to be reclassified, English learner students must score a level 3 or 4 on the English Language Proficiency Assessment of California (ELPAC), meet proficiency on 2 of 3 academic measures: SBAC (ELA/Literacy), Site Common Assessment or Districtwide Common Assessment, and must have a thorough teacher evaluation and parent consultation.
This year, more than 160 CUHSD students from across the District were reclassified. Del Mar High School saw 43 students reach this milestone, which was the highest number of any site.
During the ceremony, students shared their experiences being new to the country and persevering to master the English language, which takes a significant amount of work for both the students and their teachers.
Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services German Cerda welcomed the students and parents by highlighting the many benefits of bilingualism. He noted that being bilingual has opened many doors for him in his career.
He also shared his own story of growing up as an English learner.
“I was also an English learner... Just like you, I had to take this same journey of mastering a second language. I am a bilingual/multilingual.”
“Yo tambien aprendi ingles como segundo idioma igual como muchos de ustedes y tome la jornada de demonstrar maestria de dominar un segundo idioma. Hablo dos idiomas y soy binlingue/multilingual.”