The number of students for whom English is not their primary language has grown steadily in recent years in the Chambersburg Area School District, to the point where one in every six kindergarten students this year qualifies as an English language learner.
There are more than 450 students out of a population of more than 8,500 requiring some level of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction in the district, said Sylvia Rockwood, the district’s director of information services. That includes about 100 of the approximately 600 children entering kindergarten, she said.
The number of ESL students was 283 in 2003-04 and 366 in 2007-08, according to district figures. The influx of new ESL students prompted the district to add two more ESL teaching positions – one elementary and one secondary – earlier this month, bringing the number of teachers to 15, said Sarah Herbert, the district’s ESL supervisor.
